Chem1 Atoms, quanta and the periodic table

The basics of atomic theory, including a conceptual presentation of elementary quantum theory that is far more organized and understandable than we have ever managed to accomplish in the classroom, and which involves a minimum of mathematics. A three-level menu system allows easy navigation through the thirty individually-accessible sections.

Lesson summary

Part I: The Nuclear Atom

Lesson 1 - The Atom

• The atom: history of an idea
• What atoms are made of
• The nucleus
• Problem Example: density of a neutron star
• Characterizing the atom
• Understanding nuclide notation

Lesson 2 - Isotopes

• About isotopes
• Problem exercises

Part II - The Quantum Atom

Lesson 3 - Waves and their properties

• About waves, boundary conditions and standing waves
• Problem exercises (frequency-wavelength)

Lesson 4 - The strange world of the quantum

• Electromagnetic spectrum and black body radiation
• Light as a quantum particle: the photoelectric effect
• Wavelength of particles: the de Broglie relation
• Relativity and mass-energy equivalence
• Uncertainty Principle
• Tunnel effect

Lesson 5 - The simplest atom

• The hydrogen atom: a first look
• Atoms and music: the simplest orbitals
• Atomic quantum numbers and orbital types

Lesson 6 - Electron configurations of the elements

• Rules for orbital filling
• The first eighteen elements
• The rest of the elements (d- and f- orbitals)

Part III: The Chemical Atom

Lesson 7 - Atoms and the periodic table

• Introduction: the shell model of the atom and the periodic law
• Ionization energy
• Electron affinity
• Atomic radius
• Electronegativity

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