How to Describe an Atomic Nucleus

To describe an atomic nucleus, you need to grasp some of the basic concepts about the structure of life, and the way matter is put together. You may be surprised to know how much open space there is an atom. The atomic nucleus and electrons in atoms are very far apart from one another--wide open spaces. But the protons, neutrons and electrons are so microscopic that matter looks solid and like a tight fit.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Begin your description of the atomic nucleus with the structure of the atom and the scientist Ernest Rutherford's experiments in 1909.

2. Take a look at Rutherford's gold foil experiment and the questions that experiment brought out. In the late 1800s scientists knew matter was composed of atoms. Around the same time English physicist J. J. Thomson discovered the electron.

3. Look again at Rutherford's gold foil experiment. You can find more detailed descriptions of this experiment in chemistry textbooks and online, but the brief mention here is enough information for us to describe an atomic nucleus. Rutherford demonstrated by his experiment that matter was not uniform, because there was a heavy dense concentrated mass in the atom. This was the nucleus. But the electrons in the atom were like far flung worlds far away like a cloud surrounding the nucleus.

4. Note that Rutherford's experiment was very good, but it did not give all the details. Later scientists found that the nucleus was composed of both neutrons and protons. Neutrons do not have a charge. Protons have a positive charge which matches the negative charge of the electrons in the atom making the overall charge of the atom neutral.

5. Describe the atomic nucleus by visuals and research. Borrow pictures and diagrams from the Internet and put them in a PowerPoint presentation.

6. Know when you describe an atomic nucleus that not all nucleus of elements have the same number of neutrons. A given element has the same number of protons always, but the number of neutrons may vary. Elements with different neutron and so different mass numbers are called isotopes.