Properties and Organization of Elements in the Periodic Table, a chapter summary

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In chapter seven we learned about the electron structure of an atom. We learned about the Bohr model, electromagnetic energy, and many other related topics. In this essay I will explain in further detail what light really is and how we describe it. I will describe the behavior of electrons in both a hydrogen atom and all atoms. I will explain the arrangement of the elements in the periodic table, state which electrons are chemically important in atoms, and lastly I will describe the properties of atoms and their relation to their electron arrangements. The information provided will be my interpretation of the chapter, and my outlook on what this chapter was about.

Light is the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible. White light is a mix of colors that can be separated by a prism. Sources of white light would include the sun and light bulbs. In chemistry we consider light as electromagnetic radiation. This electromagnetic energy travels through space as waves, at the speed of light. In other words we believe light is a form of energy and that’s mainly what light is, it’s just energy.

Now the description of light is harder concept to grasp. We describe light by using wavelength and frequency. Wavelength would be the distance between two corresponding points on a wave. Frequency would be the number of waves that passes a point per second. For example the wavelengths of visible light such as red would be visible at seven hundred nanometers. Another example on how we describe light is to take the color green, for it to be visible it would have a wavelength of five hundred nanometers and a frequency of 6 x 10 14/s. Light can also be described on our scale as both waves and particles or packets of light called photons. The energy of a photon is proportional to the frequency. The last way we can describe light is to use the Atomic Spectra. The atomic spectra give only specific colors in a line spectrum, where each line is a specific wavelength of light. For example colored light, such as light from a neon sign would work perfectly with the atomic spectra.

The Bohr model of the hydrogen atom is the main tool in describing the behavior of the electron in a hydrogen atom. Niels Bohr studied the line spectra of the hydrogen atom to try and solve how electrons fit in the models of the hydrogen atoms.

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