A major source of sodium metal is the electrolysis of

Chemistry 1211: Agarwal Chapter 2 Book Notes 1 Structure of the Atom 1.1Components of the Atom o Elements are characterized by the number and type of particles of which they are composed o Atoms consist of subatomic particles: protons, electrons, neutrons  Proton: carries +1 charge, has a mass of 1.672622E-24 g  Neutron: no electrical charge, has a mass of 1.674927E-24 g  Electron: carries -1 charge, has a mass of 9.109383E-27 g (relatively massless) o Protons, neutrons are found in the nucleus of the atom o Electrons account for most of the volume of an atom o The mass and charge of an atom affect the physical and chemical properties of the element and the compounds it forms  Atomic Mass Unit (u): defined as ½ the mass of a carbon atom that contains 6 protons and 6 neutrons  Ion: an atom with an unequal number of protons and electrons; because they aren’t equal, the atom has an overall positive or negative charge  Cation: more protons than electrons, positively charged  Anion: more electrons than protons, negatively charged 1.2Atomic Number, Mass Number, and Atomic Symbols o Atoms of each element are distinguished by the number of protons in the nucleus  Atomic number (Z): equal to the number of protons; identifying number of the element  Mass number (A): number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom  Atomic symbol: one or two letter symbol that represents the element along