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Atomicity is the total number of atoms present in a molecule of an element. For example, each molecule of oxygen (O2) is composed of two oxygen atoms. Therefore, the atomicity of oxygen is 2. [1]
In older contexts, atomicity is sometimes equivalent to valency. Some authors also use the term to refer to the maximum number of valencies observed for an element. [2]
Based on atomicity, molecules can be classified as:
Atomicity may vary in different allotropes of the same element.
The exact atomicity of metals, as well as some other elements such as carbon, cannot be determined because they consist of a large and indefinite number of atoms bonded together. They are typically designated as having an atomicity of 1.
The atomicity of homonuclear molecule can be derived by dividing the molecular weight by the atomic weight. For example, the molecular weight of oxygen is 31.999, [3] while its atomic weight is 15.879; [4] therefore, its atomicity is approximately 2 (31.999/15.879 ≈ 2).
The most common values of atomicity for the first 30 elements in the periodic table are as follows:
| Atomic Number | Element | Atomicity |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hydrogen (H) | 2 |
| 2 | Helium (He) | 1 |
| 3 | Lithium (Li) | 1 |
| 4 | Beryllium (Be) | 1 |
| 5 | Boron (B) | 1 |
| 6 | Carbon (C) | 1 |
| 7 | Nitrogen (N) | 2 |
| 8 | Oxygen (O) | 2 |
| 9 | Fluorine (F) | 2 |
| 10 | Neon (Ne) | 1 |
| 11 | Sodium (Na) | 1 |
| 12 | Magnesium (Mg) | 1 |
| 13 | Aluminium (Al) | 1 |
| 14 | Silicon (Si) | 1 |
| 15 | Phosphorus (P) | 4 |
| 16 | Sulphur (S) | 8 |
| 17 | Chlorine (Cl) | 2 |
| 18 | Argon (Ar) | 1 |
| 19 | Potassium (K) | 1 |
| 20 | Calcium (Ca) | 1 |
| 21 | Scandium (Sc) | 1 |
| 22 | Titanium (Ti) | 1 |
| 23 | Vanadium (V) | 1 |
| 24 | Chromium (Cr) | 1 |
| 25 | Manganese (Mn) | 1 |
| 26 | Iron (Fe) | 1 |
| 27 | Cobalt (Co) | 1 |
| 28 | Nickel (Ni) | 1 |
| 29 | Copper (Cu) | 1 |
| 30 | Zinc (Zn) | 1 |
Atomic theory is the scientific theory that matter is composed of particles called atoms. The concept that matter is composed of discrete particles is an ancient idea, but gained scientific credence in the 18th and 19th centuries when scientists found it could explain the behaviors of gases and how chemical elements reacted with each other. By the end of the 19th century, atomic theory had gained widespread acceptance in the scientific community.
In chemistry, a chemical formula is a way of presenting information about the chemical proportions of atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound or molecule, using chemical element symbols, numbers, and sometimes also other symbols, such as parentheses, dashes, brackets, commas and plus (+) and minus (−) signs. These are limited to a single typographic line of symbols, which may include subscripts and superscripts. A chemical formula is not a chemical name since it does not contain any words. Although a chemical formula may imply certain simple chemical structures, it is not the same as a full chemical structural formula. Chemical formulae can fully specify the structure of only the simplest of molecules and chemical substances, and are generally more limited in power than chemical names and structural formulae.
Diatomic molecules are molecules composed of only two atoms, of the same or different chemical elements. If a diatomic molecule consists of two atoms of the same element, such as hydrogen or oxygen, then it is said to be homonuclear. Otherwise, if a diatomic molecule consists of two different atoms, such as carbon monoxide or nitric oxide, the molecule is said to be heteronuclear. The bond in a homonuclear diatomic molecule is non-polar.
The halogens are a group in the periodic table consisting of six chemically related elements: fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), iodine (I), astatine (At), and tennessine (Ts), though some authors would exclude tennessine as its chemistry is unknown and is theoretically expected to be more like that of gallium. In the modern IUPAC nomenclature, this group is known as group (XVII) or group (VII).
A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and biochemistry, the distinction from ions is dropped and molecule is often used when referring to polyatomic ions.
The mole (symbol mol) is the unit of measurement for amount of substance, a quantity proportional to the number of elementary entities of a substance. It is a base unit in the International System of Units (SI). One mole contains exactly 6.02214076×1023 elementary entities (602 sextillion or 602 billion times a trillion), which can be atoms, molecules, ions, or other particles. The number of particles in a mole is the Avogadro number (symbol N0) and the numerical value of the Avogadro constant (symbol NA) expressed in mol-1. The value was chosen based on the historical definition of the mole as the amount of substance that corresponds to the number of atoms in 12 grams of 12C, which made the mass of a mole of a compound expressed in grams numerically equal to the average molecular mass of the compound expressed in daltons. With the 2019 redefinition of the SI base units, the numerical equivalence is now only approximate but may be assumed for all practical purposes.
A period 2 element is one of the chemical elements in the second row of the periodic table of the chemical elements. The periodic table is laid out in rows to illustrate recurring (periodic) trends in the chemical behavior of the elements as their atomic number increases; a new row is started when chemical behavior begins to repeat, creating columns of elements with similar properties.
The octet rule is a chemical rule of thumb that reflects the theory that main-group elements tend to bond in such a way that each atom has eight electrons in its valence shell, giving it the same electronic configuration as a noble gas. The rule is especially applicable to carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and the halogens; although more generally the rule is applicable for the s-block and p-block of the periodic table. Other rules exist for other elements, such as the duplet rule for hydrogen and helium, and the 18-electron rule for transition metals.
A chemical structure of a molecule is a spatial arrangement of its atoms and their chemical bonds. Its determination includes a chemist's specifying the molecular geometry and, when feasible and necessary, the electronic structure of the target molecule or other solid. Molecular geometry refers to the spatial arrangement of atoms in a molecule and the chemical bonds that hold the atoms together and can be represented using structural formulae and by molecular models; complete electronic structure descriptions include specifying the occupation of a molecule's molecular orbitals. Structure determination can be applied to a range of targets from very simple molecules to very complex ones.
The ozone–oxygen cycle is the process by which ozone is continually regenerated in Earth's stratosphere, converting ultraviolet radiation (UV) into heat. In 1930 Sydney Chapman resolved the chemistry involved. The process is commonly called the Chapman cycle by atmospheric scientists.
In chemistry, an interhalogen compound is a molecule which contains two or more different halogen atoms and no atoms of elements from any other group.
In chemistry, bond order is a formal measure of the multiplicity of a covalent bond between two atoms. As introduced by Linus Pauling, bond order is defined as the difference between the numbers of electron pairs in bonding and antibonding molecular orbitals.
In chemistry, the valence or valency of an atom is a measure of its combining capacity with other atoms when it forms chemical compounds or molecules. Valence is generally understood to be the number of chemical bonds that each atom of a given element typically forms. For a specified compound the valence of an atom is the number of bonds formed by the atom. Double bonds are considered to be two bonds, and triple bonds to be three. In most compounds, the valence of hydrogen is 1, of oxygen is 2, of nitrogen is 3, and of carbon is 4. Valence is not to be confused with the related concepts of the coordination number, the oxidation state, or the number of valence electrons for a given atom.
Homonuclear molecules, or homonuclear species, are molecules composed of only one element. Homonuclear molecules may consist of various numbers of atoms. The size of the molecule an element can form depends on the element's properties, and some elements form molecules of more than one size. The most familiar homonuclear molecules are diatomic molecule, which consist of two atoms, although not all diatomic molecules are homonuclear. Homonuclear diatomic molecules include hydrogen (H2), oxygen (O2), nitrogen (N2) and all of the halogens. Ozone (O3) is a common triatomic homonuclear molecule. Homonuclear tetratomic molecules include arsenic (As4) and phosphorus (P4).
A molecular orbital diagram, or MO diagram, is a qualitative descriptive tool explaining chemical bonding in molecules in terms of molecular orbital theory in general and the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) method in particular. A fundamental principle of these theories is that as atoms bond to form molecules, a certain number of atomic orbitals combine to form the same number of molecular orbitals, although the electrons involved may be redistributed among the orbitals. This tool is very well suited for simple diatomic molecules such as dihydrogen, dioxygen, and carbon monoxide but becomes more complex when discussing even comparatively simple polyatomic molecules, such as methane. MO diagrams can explain why some molecules exist and others do not. They can also predict bond strength, as well as the electronic transitions that can take place.
A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances can be simple substances, chemical compounds, or alloys.
There are several known allotropes of oxygen. The most familiar is molecular oxygen, present at significant levels in Earth's atmosphere and also known as dioxygen or triplet oxygen. Another is the highly reactive ozone. Others are:
The atomic mass (ma or m) is the mass of an atom. Although the SI unit of mass is the kilogram (symbol: kg), atomic mass is often expressed in the non-SI unit dalton (symbol: Da) – equivalently, unified atomic mass unit (u). 1 Da is defined as 1⁄12 of the mass of a free carbon-12 atom at rest in its ground state. The protons and neutrons of the nucleus account for nearly all of the total mass of atoms, with the electrons and nuclear binding energy making minor contributions. Thus, the numeric value of the atomic mass when expressed in daltons has nearly the same value as the mass number. Conversion between mass in kilograms and mass in daltons can be done using the atomic mass constant .
A chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many identical molecules containing atoms from more than one chemical element held together by chemical bonds. A molecule consisting of atoms of only one element is therefore not a compound. A compound can be transformed into a different substance by a chemical reaction, which may involve interactions with other substances. In this process, bonds between atoms may be broken and/or new bonds formed.
Periodic systems of molecules are charts of molecules similar to the periodic table of the elements. Construction of such charts was initiated in the early 20th century and is still ongoing.