Making Atoms!

At the moment in science we are learning about atoms and the periodic table. We have learnt about what electrons, protons & neurons and what their electrical charge is. Over the past week we have been doing work in our sci-pads learning about the rules and importance of the electrons, neurons and protons. 

Protons have a positive charge, neutrons have a neutral charge and electrons have a negative charge. In the middle of an atom is a cluster of the protons and neutrons, surrounding that is up to 3 rings which contain the electrons. The rule is 2 electrons on the first ring, 8 on the middle ring and 2 on the final ring. During a chemical reaction an atom needs to gain a full outer shell (8 electrons) this means they will either lose or gain electrons depending whats easiest to obtain. This can effect the electrical charge or create an imbalance of the atom.

Our task for today was to create a diagram model of an atom of our choice. We used different coloured beads to represent the protons and neutrons of our element.

Equipment: 1 piece of paper, 30cm of string, blue tac and coloured beads

Method: - Stick p + n beads to blue tack

         - Cut out 2 rings from paper

                                                              - Draw or glue electrons onto rings                                        - Create a title label

                                                  - Tape and assemble the pieces so they can hang

(putting photo here)

The element I chose was nitrogen, Nitrogen has an atomic number of 7 and a mass number of 14. Nitrogen also has 7 protons, 7 neutrons and 7 electrons. Therefore the mass of my atom had 14 beads and the. On the first ring there are 2 electrons and on the second there are 5 altogether equally the 7 electrons.

Overall I have enjoyed this task and I think the result turned out good. I've found learning about atoms very interesting