Question

How would you construct a model to show the atomic structure for an oxygen atom?

Answer 1

Hint In order to know how to construct a model to show the atomic structure for an oxygen atom, we must first have an idea about what an atomic structure is. Atomic structure of an element refers to a structure which constitutes the nucleus at the center with the arrangement of the electrons around it.

Complete step by step solution:
Atomic structure of an element refers to a structure which constitutes the nucleus at the center with the arrangement of the electrons around it. The nucleus is made up of protons and neutrons which together combine to give the nucleons. Atomic structure of an element consists of subatomic particles such as protons, neutrons and electrons.
So, in order to draw the structure for an oxygen atom, we must first know about two things, one is the atomic number and the other is the mass number.
From the atomic number, we can obtain the total number of electrons or protons present in the oxygen atom which is 8. From the mass number, we can obtain the number of neutrons present by subtracting the number of protons from the mass number. The number of neutrons present in the oxygen atom is 8.
So, to draw atomic structure for an oxygen atom, we have to place 2 electrons in the K shell and 6 electrons in the L shell. In the nucleus there will be 8 protons and 8 neutrons.

Note: Let us now see about the charge and mass of the subatomic particles present in an atom:
- Proton is positively charged with a mass of \[1.672 \times {10^{ - 24}}\]
- Neutron is having a neutral charge with a mass of \[1.674 \times {10^{ - 24}}\]
- Electron is negatively charged with a mass of \[9.1 \times {10^{ - 31}}\]