Science: Model Atom

 Hi there!

Today I will be blogging about how I made a model atom in Science class.

Aim: Make a model atom out of beads and paper.

Method: 

1. Choose an atom to make (one between Hydrogen and Neon)

2. Work out how many protons, neutrons and electrons it has.

3. Assign protons and neutrons to particular colour bead.

4. Get a ball of blue-tac and stick the protons and neutrons to this to make your nucleus.

5. Cut out the appropriate electron shells and draw on the electrons with vivid.

6. Connect the nucleus and electron shells with a piece of string.

7. Create a label to go above the model so people know what you have created. 

Result: 

Discussion:

Leading up to making these model atoms, we learnt about the following things:

• Atomic and mass numbers
• Number of protons, electrons and neutrons in atoms
• Electron arrangement

An atomic number is the number above the element symbol. It also states what number it is in the Periodic Table. It represents how many protons are in the nucleus of a single atom of that element. The number of protons is equal to the number of electrons, so the atomic number also tells us how many there are in that atom. 

A mass number is the number that represents how many total particles, protons and neutrons found in the nucleus of an atom. If you know the mass number and atomic number of an element, you can figure out the number of neutrons in the nucleus of that atom. You can do this by subtracting the atomic number from the mass number, the answer gives you the amount of neutrons. 

I chose Lithium for my experiment, so I found out that: Lithium has 3 protons and 3 electrons. It has 4 neutrons.  

The electron arrangement for Lithium is:

Li 2,1. This means there are 2 electrons in the inner shell and 1 one the outside. Only two electrons are allowed to go in the inner shell, and the 2nd and 3rd shells can hold up to 8 electrons.

Two interesting facts about Lithium:

• Lithium is the lightest metal
• Lithium can float on water since it has a low density. 

Conclusion:

My aim worked, and I was able to create a model atom of Lithium. I would have used stronger paper to make the electron rings so it doesn't break as easily. I would have used the same element for this experiment. Overall, I liked making this model atom as I learnt more about atoms but it was also a lot of fun.

Thanks for reading!