Atomic Structure and Isotopes Activity
Created by Erik Heinemann
Purpose: The purpose of this activity is for students identify the fundamental (to a point) particles that make up an atom and construct several stable isotopes for several elements.
Task: you will be asked to go to several websites and use some of the applets and activities to better understand atoms and isotopes. Some of the websites require the use of Shockwave. If you do not have this on your computer you may need to install it. Click on the link to open a site that will allow you to install the software. It is free of charge, but if you have a firewall or other blocking/protecting device, you may have to disable it for 5 minutes or so to get the software.
Assignment: Printout the questions below and follow the activity in order to answer the questions that are asked. Turn in the printed page with your answers to your teacher.
Assessment: The following questions will be scored on their completion and for a few of the problems the accuracy of your answers is going to be scored. The assignment is worth 20 points as part of a homework grade.
Go the to website common elements that corresponds to a text that we are not using in class. Read through the first section.
1.
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Section 2 asks you to zoom in on a penny. Zoom in on the penny as far as you can go and describe what you see in terms of the atoms.
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2.
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How big, approximately, is the size of one copper (Cu) atom?
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3.
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Zoom out to the next phase and describe what you see there.
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Go to section 3 and highlight each of the particles with your mouse. |
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4. |
Identify the three subatomic particles are and fill in the following table: | |||||||||||||||||
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| Go on to Section 4. Read through the introductory material and follow through the demo. You will finally come to a page where you can build your own atoms. |
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Attempt to place 1 electron into the center (nucleus) of the atom. |
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5.
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What happened?
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Leaving the electron where it ended up, place one proton in the center of the atom. |
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6.
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You have just created an atom representing what element?
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Place a neutron into the center of the atom. You have just created an isotope of hydrogen. |
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For fun, place a second neutron in the nucleus. |
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7.
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Describe what happens.
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Place 2 more electrons into atom and observe what happens. Place 2 more protons and 1 more neutron into the atom’s nucleus. |
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8.
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You have created an atom representing which element?
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Place an additional neutron into the nucleus. You have just created an isotope of Lithium. Note the center is a little unstable, but the reading indicates that you have created a legitimate atom even though it differs from the last atom some. |
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9.
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Based on what you have seen so far, try to define isotope. (There is no wrong answer here as long as you make an honest attempt at a definition.)
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Add another electron and another proton, but remove one neutron. |
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10.
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Which element does this atom represent?
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Add more neutrons in order to identify 2 additional isotopes of Beryllium. |
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11.
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What are the other 2 isotopes?
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Create another atom using any or all of the protons and adjusting the electrons and neutrons until you find a stable configuration. Identify all of the isotopes for that atom. |
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12.
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Which element's atom have you created? Identify all of that element's isotopes.
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Hit the “next” button on the bottom of the screen and answer the questions provided by the website. You may play with the simulation more to help you. |
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13.
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Answer question 4 provided within the website.
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14.
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Answer question 5 provided within the website.
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15.
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Answer question 6 provided within the website.
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16.
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Answer question 7 provided within the website.
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17.
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Answer question 8 provided within the websit.
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Hit the “next” button again and read section 6 for more information. |
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Now the you know about atoms’ fundamental particles and you know that there are more than one stable isotope of several atoms, go the following website: |
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18.
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Show all work for your attempt to answer the first problem.
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19.
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Show all work for your attempt to answer the second problem.
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20. |
Solve the following (no answer provided): | |||||||||||||||||
| 7X has a mass of 7 amu and a relative abundance of 92.5%. 6X has a mass of 6 amu and a relative abundance of 7.5%. |
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Calculate the average atomic mass and identify what element you are actually working with. |
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Extension: If you are interested, click here for another atom building website that actually allows you to take smaller particles to create protons neutrons and electrons. Try this for fun, but in class we will not do anything more than mention the possibility of quarks.
The URLs for the websites at each link are listed here:
To install shockwave, http://www.adobe.com/products/shockwaveplayer/
The first site used in the activity
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/investigations/es0501/es0501page01.cfm
Mrs. Weir’s tutorial, http://www.weironline.net/chemcentral/wgtavg.html
The extension website, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/atom/#
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