O-Level Chemistry: Terms used in Atomic Structure

Atomic Structure is one of the fundamental topic that we must master in order to appreciate all the other concepts in Chemistry.

An atom is made up of three types of sub-atomic particles called Protons, Electrons & Neutrons. These subatomic particles have different relative charges and masses.

• Proton – has +ve charge and has a relative mass of 1
• Neutron – has no charge and has a relative mass of 1
• Electron – has -ve charge and has a relative mass of 1/1840 (i.e. negligible)

Besides the above, you will also need to know two more terms commonly used in Atomic Structure and they are:

• Proton Number – No. of protons in the atom
• Nucleon Number – Total no. of protons and neutrons in the atom

Hope you learned something useful today.

Do stay tune to the next blog post where i will share with you how the nucleon number and the proton number can be included when representing an element in symbols (like in the Periodic Table).

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