Bio H – Basic Chemistry
Refresher of Elements, Atoms, and Compounds Webquest – Part I
All links can also be accessed on the Chemistry of Life page
Go to http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/investigations/es0501/es0501page01.cfm
Work through the first two section (common elements, zoom in on a penny)
Atomic Models
1. What are the three different subatomic particles that make up an atom?
2. Complete the chart below. You will have to wait until the next website to finish the last column.
Name of Subatomic
particle:
Charge:
Location in the
atom:
Mass (in amu)
What happens to
the atom if we
change the number?
Building an Atom - http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/build-an-atom Click on all the (+) icons on the right to
open up the Symbol, Mass Number and Net Charge menus.
1. Look at the periodic table as you add protons to the atom. What does adding protons do to the atom?
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The number of protons therefore is equal to the atomic number. Each proton you add, the atomic number goes up
by 1.
Hit the reset button and click on the (+) icons again to continue.
2. Add 2 protons to the atom. What is the atomic mass?
a. Now add 2 neutrons to your 2 protons. What is the atomic mass now?
b. Based on what you observed above, how is the atomic mass calculated?
Bio H – Basic Chemistry
3. Look at the symbol box. What is the charge of your 2 proton, 2 neutron atom?
a. How can we make it a neutral atom (charge = 0)?
b. How can we make it an atom with a charge of -2?
c. What is a charged atom called?
4. Notice your atom has 2 orbits. How many electrons fit in the first orbit?
a. How about the second?
5. Look at the chart you filled out at the beginning of this assignment. Why don’t we have to count the number of
electrons when we are figuring out the atomic mass?
6. Atoms that have the same number of protons and electrons, but a different amount of neutrons are called
isotopes. May of these isotopes are radioactive, meaning they give off a lot of energy. Build a neutral isotope
of Hydrogen (P= 1;N=2; e= 0). Why do you think this atom is radioactive?
7. What is the maximum number of electrons that can fit in the first orbit?
a. Second?
b. Third? (the model doesn’t go up this high, but do you remember from middle school?)
8. Use the atom builder to make the following Atoms. Then sketch them below.
Carbon
Hydrogen
Oxygen
9. Hit the “Game” tab in the upper left of the page. Try the game on level 1. How successful were you?
If you had a lot of trouble with this game you need to do some more practice at home until you get it. You will
have to answer these types of questions on the test.
Bio H – Basic Chemistry
Finally make up some rules to remember how to calculate the numbers of protons, neutrons and electrons.
Atomic number = _______________________________________
Atomic mass = __________________________________________
Protons = _______________________________________.
Neutrons = _________________________________________________.
Electrons = ________________________________ in a neutral atom
Electrons = ________________________________ in a charged atom
***End of Part 1: Let me know when you’ve gotten this far. If others are still working you
may continue on to part II***
Bio H – Basic Chemistry
Bonding - Go to http://www.visionlearning.com/library/module_viewer.php?mid=55
1. What is a compound?
2. How do a compound’s properties compare to the properties of the atoms that formed it?
3. Which of the three subatomic particles is/are key in forming chemical bonds?
4. The page discusses three types of chemical bonds. Read the information on each type of bond and fill in the
chart below.
Name of Bond
5.
What is happening with the
electrons in this bond?
Do the atoms involved
become charged, partially
charged or do they stay
neutral?
Give an example of a
compound formed by this
type of bond
Read what it says about a dipole and draw a diagram of a water molecule. Fill in the dipole charges on your
diagram.
6. Now imagine a bunch of water molecules are thrown into a beaker together. What’s going to happen to their
arrangement considering the dipole charges?
Bio H – Basic Chemistry
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You have just described a Hydrogen bond. In a hydrogen bond, nothing really happens with the electrons BUT
partial charges created by a polar covalent bond are attracted to one another. This attraction is called a Hydrogen
bond.
Click on the Chemical Reactions module at the bottom of the page.
1. Why do atoms react together? What is their “goal”?
a. Which atoms never react? Why?
Click back to the Chemical bonding page and, at the bottom, click on Chemical equations. Read through and answer the
following questions.
For each of the following, identify how many molecules, types of atoms and individual atoms there are:
2H2O
3Fe2O3
C8H1N4O2
Molecules:
Molecules:
Molecules:
Types of atoms:
Types of atoms
Types of atoms
H atoms (total):
Fe atoms (total):
C atoms (total):
O atoms (total):
O atoms (total):
H atoms (total):
N atoms (total):
O atoms (total):