Ionic Compounds

During this section we learned about the ionic compounds and how they function. We learned that Cations are atoms that lose electrons, most commonly metals and that Anions are atoms that gain electrons, most commonly non-metals. Some atoms form ionic bonds which is a cation held together with and anion due to electrostatic forces. Cations always have a positive charge while the Anions always have negative charges. We also learned how to write the formulas of the different elements by using the cross-over method. When using the metal, non-metal¨ide¨ format you always change the second element in the compound to where is ends in ¨ide¨. Transitional metals are the weird ones, instead of always having a full set they either want an empty, half, or full shell. While considering all of these different rules when you get to Polyatomic ions they change again. Changing the ending of ¨ide¨ to ¨ate¨, you have 2 non-metals instead of only 1, and they all have an overall oxidation state of negative one. Putting all of the rules together and writing out the formulas was a little difficult because sometimes you might use one rule whereas other times you would not. Although, altogether this section was not extremely difficult.

Periodic Trends

During this section of class we learned about the different periodic trends, how they worked together, and what they all mean. First we learned how to count the valence electrons and to see how many each different element has. This was probably the easiest part of the whole day. Each element wants to fill is valence shell, which is the outer most shell, with eight valence electrons. The fewer protons that the element has the weaker the electronegativity the element has which means that it is easier to gain more protons. The easier is it to pull the protons out of the element the higher the ionization level will be. Electronegativity is the pull of the nucleus to the valence electrons and the Ionization energy is the amount of energy required to remove an electron from an atom. The last trend we learned about was the Atomic Radius, which is the average distance from the outermost electron to the nucleus. As you move from left to right across the periodic table the Mass increases while the Radius decreases.

The Electron Cloud Model

This week we learned about the Electron Cloud Model and how it relates the Bohr Model. In the Electron Cloud Model there are different orbitals that can hold a certain number of electrons depending on which orbital you may be looking at. As you move from the different energy levels you will find a different set of orbitals. The Bohr Model and the Electron Cloud model are similar because they account for different energy levels which are related to the electrons distance from the nucleus. Although, in the Bohr Model electrons are on fixed energy levels and can jump from level to level; however in the Electron Cloud Model the electrons exist in a probability cloud that is somewhat fuzzy. Also learning about how to find the Electron Configuration for the different elements on the periodic table. At first the gizmo was difficult but as we got into it and began figuring everything out it became more clear.

The Bohr Model

We learned that in the Bohr Model an electron circles the nucleus on in the fixed ranges, it cannot be in between the ranges, they can move up and down orbits but they cannot gain or lose energy inside the same range, and that the lowest energy source is closest to the nucleus. The farther away you get from the nucleus the more energy is takes. Also we learned about the colors and that red has the least amount of energy while violet has the most energy.

Fission, Fusion, and Nuclear decay

This week we have learned about Alpha and Beta decay, Fission, and Fusion. Alpha decay is made of 2 protons and 2 neutrons while Beta decay is made of an electron, both of these are apart of Nuclear Decay. During Alpha and Beta decay you get the daughter product, everything on the right side of the arrow should add up to the things on the left side. Fusion is when you combine two or more elements to create a new element and Fission is when you separate the atoms.

Atomic Model & Periodic Table

     From the beginning of Chemistry class we started learning about the structure of the Atomic Model. From what the three components are made of to how they all work together. Learning these things are important because it shows how things are in the world around us. Also, we have learned about how the periodic table was put together, how to read the elements, and how all of them work together. It's important to learn about all of these things because its the start of building up to the rest of the material we'll learn this semester. However, its important to know these things to understand the things in the world.