How to Make a Model of a Aluminum Atom

Aluminum has a complex atom with plenty of components.

Aluminum is one of the most abundant elements in the crust of the earth. It is so abundant that geologists named the crustal rocks Sial to reflect the abundance of silicates (Si) and aluminum (Al) within them. Producing a Bohr model of this important atom simplifies its structure but still enables a student to understand the complexity and component parts of the atom. Aluminum has a nucleus of 13 protons and 14 neutrons. Around them, 13 electrons rotate.

Things You'll Need

• 13 yellow pingpong balls
• 14 orange pingpong balls
• 13 small, spherical, black beads
• Model-makers wire
• Wire cutters
• Glue
• 3 feet of strong fishing line

Instructions

1. Mix the yellow and orange pingpong balls, and then glue them together in a random pattern to form a roughly spherical clump. Allow the glue to dry thoroughly. Glue a length of strong fishing line to the nucleus, in such as way as to allow the nucleus to hang vertically below the line when you hold it in the air.

2. Create a hoop of wire with a diameter 6 inches greater than the nucleus. Glue two black beads to this hoop to represent the two electrons in the innermost orbit around the nucleus. Tie the fishing line around the hoop to suspend it with the nucleus hanging in the center of the hoop.

3. Create a second wire hoop with a diameter 6 inches greater than the first hoop. Glue eight black beads to the hoop, and then hang it from the fishing line so it surrounds the first hoop and the nucleus.

4. Make a final wire hoop with a diameter that is 6 inches greater than the second hoop. Glue three black beads to this hoop, and hang it from the fishing line so that it encircles all the other hoops. Make a loop in the end of the fishing line and hang the model up.

Tips & Warnings

• You can use any ball -shaped objects to represent the parts of an atom.

• The colors you use do not matter so long as they are clearly different from each other.

• Using "instant setting glue" speeds up the creation of the nucleus.

• Wire cutters cut skin as easily as they cut wire. Keep fingers and fingernails out of the way when cutting wire.

• Some quick-setting glues bond skin to other surfaces in seconds.

References

• University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point: The Earth's Interior
• NDT Resource Center: Atom Models
• Jefferson Lab: How Do I Make a Model Atom?
• Galileo: Atomic Model Construction