Classzone.com – BUILD AN ATOM simulation
Click this link:
https://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/investigations/es0501/es0501pag
e01.cfm
1. What elements are in these common items?
2. Pennies were once made of just one element — copper. Today, zinc is also a major
component of pennies. If we could look very closely at a copper penny, we would see
that every atom is the same. Zoom in on the penny. Record an observation for each
zoom.
3. List the three subatomic particles that make up atoms. Give the mass and charge of
each one. Give the location in the atom for each subatomic particle.
4. If the nucleus was the size of a basketball, how far away would the nearest electron shell
be?
5. Run through the demo of the atom simulation. How many electrons can be placed in
each of the shells around the nucleus?
6. Draw the carbon atom that the simulation creates.
7. Experiment with the parts of the atom by adding and taking away protons, neutrons and
electrons.
8. Try to put the electrons in the nucleus. What happens to them? Try to put protons or
neutron in the outer shells. What happens to them?
9. Create an isotope of carbon. How is it different than the carbon that the simulation
created?
10. Create an isotope of Oxygen. Label the protons, neutrons, electrons.
11. Create an unstable isotope of Hydrogen. How did you make it?
12. Create an unstable isotope of Oxygen. How did you make it?
13. Create the weirdest isotope that you can. Draw it here. What is it? How many protons,
neutrons, electrons does it have?
14. Create an ion of lithium. Draw it here. How many protons, neutrons, electrons does it
have?
15. Which particle controls what element an atom is? Describe how you used the
model to come up with your answer.
16. What do you get when you change the number of neutrons in the nucleus?
17. What controls the "weight" of an atom? Describe how you used the model to
come up with your answer.
18. Try to cluster the electrons together or move them into another level. Describe
the behavior of the model electrons.
19. What do you get if the number of protons and electrons in your model is not
equal?
The interactive model doesn't allow you to build atoms with more than 10 protons. To find
out how many protons, neutrons, and electrons are in these larger atoms, you need to read
the information from the Periodic Table of Elements.
Go here to access an online periodic table.
http://periodic.lanl.gov/index.shtml
9. Fill out the chart for these elements:
Element
N
Oxygen
Neon
Aluminum
Iron
Gold
Symbol
Atomic number
Atomic mass
P
E