1. atomic structure

• What are the main components of an atom?

  Protons, neutrons, and electrons
• What charge do protons have?

  Positive charge
• What is the charge of neutrons?

  Zero charge
• What is the charge of electrons?

  Negative charge
• What is the relative mass of an electron?

  1/2000
• What does the top number in an element's notation represent?

  Mass number (protons + neutrons)
• What does the bottom number in an element's notation represent?

  Atomic number (number of protons)
• Why are all atoms neutral?

  Protons equal electrons in number
• What defines an ion?

  Different number of electrons and protons
• What is an example of a negative ion?

  O$^{2-}$
• How does O$^{2-}$ achieve stability?


  By gaining two electrons
• What is the charge of sodium ion Na$^{+}$?


  Positive charge
• How many protons does sodium have?

  11 protons
• What happens to sodium's electron to form Na$^{+}$?


  It loses one electron
• What are isotopes?

  Same protons, different neutrons
• What are the three isotopes of carbon?

  Carbon-12, Carbon-13, Carbon-14
• How do isotopes of an element behave chemically?

  They react the same
• Who proposed the first atomic model in 1803?

  John Dalton
• What did JJ Thompson discover about the atom?

  Electrons and the plum pudding model
• What did Rutherford's gold leaf experiment demonstrate?

  Most of the atom is empty space
• What did Neil's Bohr propose about electron arrangement?

  Electrons exist in fixed energy levels
• What is the purpose of the time of flight mass spectrometer?

  To analyze the mass of ions
• What happens to a sample in the time of flight mass spectrometer first?

  It is vaporized
• What is the role of electrospray ionization?

  To create gaseous positively charged ions
• How are particles accelerated in the mass spectrometer?

  By negatively charged plates
• What does the mass-to-charge ratio determine?

  Speed of the particles in the spectrometer
• What is relative atomic mass?

  Average mass of an atom compared to carbon-12
• What is relative molecular mass?

  Average mass of a molecule compared to carbon-12
• What is relative isotopic mass?

  Mass of an isotope compared to carbon-12
• What does the mass spectrum show?

  Isotopes and their relative abundances
• What does the x-axis of a mass spectrum represent?

  Mass-to-charge ratio
• What does the y-axis of a mass spectrum represent?

  Relative abundance of isotopes
• What must the total abundance of isotopes equal?

  100%
• How can isotopes be identified in a mass spectrum?

  By their mass-to-charge ratio
• What does a higher mass-to-charge ratio indicate?

  Heavier isotopes travel slower
• What is the significance of the peaks in a mass spectrum?

  They represent different isotopes
• What does the area under the peaks in a mass spectrum indicate?

  Relative abundance of isotopes
• What is the relationship between isotopic mass and abundance?

  Higher abundance means more significant peaks
• What is the importance of carbon-12 in atomic mass measurements?

  It is the standard for comparison
• How do isotopes affect the average atomic mass of an element?

  Different isotopes contribute differently