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QUESTION

# How would you describe the structure ot an atom?

Up to GCSE it is a very small positive nucleus which has protons and neutrons, surrounded by negative electrons in shells or energy levels around it.

Protons have a charge of +1 and a relative mass of 1 Neutrons are neutral (have no charge) and also have a mass of 1 Electrons are negative (have a charge of -1) and have a negligibly small relative mass (1/1840)

The first energy shell contains 2 electrons and all the ones after that contain 8.

Beyond GCSE we learn that electrons are arranged in 4 different orbitals named s, p, d and f which contain 2, 6, 10 and 14 electrons respectively.

The "first shell", known at A-level and beyond as the "principal quantum level" has a s orbital (which means a maximum of 2 electrons)

The second quantum level has s and p (which is a maximum of 2+6 or 8 electrons), the third has s, p and d (which means it has a maximum capacity of 18) and the fourth has s, p, d and f (which means it has a maximum electron capacity of 32).