Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table | AQA GCSE Chemistry, Foundation tier (8462)

Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table

202 questions
15 subtopics
Paper 1
Paper 1

Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table is examined in Chemistry Paper 1.

It covers atoms, elements and compounds, word equations, symbols and balanced equations, mixtures, from the plum pudding model to the nuclear model, Bohr, Chadwick and the modern model of the atom, relative electrical charges of subatomic particles, size and mass of atoms, mass number, atomic number and isotopes, the periodic table, development of the periodic table, metals and non-metals, group 0, group 1, group 7 and transition metals, and how they differ from Group 1.

Sample questions from Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Atoms, elements and compounds

What is the chemical symbol for an atom of oxygen?

Show the answer
The symbol for oxygen is O.
Word equations, symbols and balanced equations

Write the word equation for zinc reacting with hydrochloric acid.

Show the answer
Zinc + hydrochloric acid → zinc chloride + hydrogen.
From the plum pudding model to the nuclear model

Which experiment provided the evidence that led to the nuclear model?

Show the answer
The alpha particle scattering experiment.
Bohr, Chadwick and the modern model of the atom

State two differences between the plum pudding model and the nuclear model.

Show the answer
In the nuclear model the positive charge and nearly all the mass sit in a tiny central nucleus, and most of the atom is empty space, whereas in the plum pudding model the positive charge fills the atom with electrons embedded in it.
Size and mass of atoms

What is the relative mass of a proton?

Show the answer
It is 1.
Mass number, atomic number and isotopes

Chlorine atoms have 17 electrons. Write the electronic structure of chlorine.

Show the answer
It is 2,8,7.
Development of the periodic table

Why were the early tables incomplete?

Show the answer
Because many elements had not yet been discovered, so there was nothing to place in those positions.
Metals and non-metals

What type of oxide does a metal form, and what type does a non-metal form?

Show the answer
Metals form basic oxides and non-metals form acidic oxides.

The 15 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Atoms, elements and compounds	What all substances are made of, how atoms and elements are written as symbols, roughly how many elements exist, and how compounds form, are represented and are separated by chemical reactions.	14
Word equations, symbols and balanced equations	Writing reactions as word equations and symbol equations, reactants and products either side of the arrow, looking up element symbols in the periodic table, naming compounds from formulae such as NaCl, and why and how symbol equations are balanced.	9
Mixtures	What a mixture is and why its substances keep their properties, why air is a mixture, separation by filtration, crystallisation, simple and fractional distillation and chromatography, and choosing a method for sea water, ethanol and water, and black ink.	14
From the plum pudding model to the nuclear model	How new evidence changes scientific models, Thomson's discovery of the electron and the plum pudding model, Rutherford's alpha particle scattering experiment and what its results showed about the nucleus and empty space, Bohr's electron orbits, and the naming of protons.	15
Bohr, Chadwick and the modern model of the atom	Chadwick's evidence for the neutron and where it sits, why the scattering experiment forced a new model, how the nuclear model differs from the plum pudding model, and the fixed energy levels of electrons.	11
Relative electrical charges of subatomic particles	The relative charges of the proton, electron and neutron, why an atom has no overall charge, equal numbers of protons and electrons, atomic number as the number of protons, identifying an element from it, and where each particle sits in the nuclear model.	12
Size and mass of atoms	The radius of an atom and of its nucleus, where the mass of an atom is concentrated, the relative masses of protons, neutrons and electrons, mass number and isotopes, reading atomic notation, counting protons, neutrons and electrons in atoms and ions, and estimating at atomic scale.	17
Mass number, atomic number and isotopes	Relative atomic mass as an average over isotopes, why chlorine is 35.5, calculating relative atomic mass from percentage abundances, how electrons fill the lowest energy levels or shells first, and writing electronic structures such as 2,8,1 for sodium and 2,8,7 for chlorine.	14
The periodic table	Elements arranged by atomic number, groups as columns of similar elements, why the table is periodic, how outer electrons give the group number and similar chemical properties, how occupied shells give the period, predicting reactions from position, and drawing and writing electronic structures for elements such as potassium, calcium, aluminium and oxygen.	17
Development of the periodic table	How early tables ordered elements by atomic weight and why they were faulty, Mendeleev's gaps and reordering, how his predictions were confirmed, and how isotopes explained the anomalies.	12
Metals and non-metals	How metals and non-metals are defined by the ions they form, where each is found in the periodic table, their physical and chemical properties, and how outer electrons decide how an element reacts.	12
Group 0	The noble gases, why their full outer shells make them unreactive, how many outer electrons helium and the rest have, and how boiling point and density change going down the group.	11
Group 1	The alkali metals and their single outer electron, their reactions with oxygen, water and chlorine, the alkaline solution formed with water, how and why reactivity increases down the group, and predicting how rubidium reacts with water.	13
Group 7	The halogens as non-metals with seven outer electrons that exist as pairs of atoms, ionic metal halides and covalent compounds with non-metals, rising melting and boiling points and falling reactivity down the group, displacement reactions, and why fluorine is more reactive than chlorine.	17
Transition metals, and how they differ from Group 1	How transition metals compare with Group 1 metals in melting point, density, hardness and reactions with water, oxygen and the halogens, examples of transition metals, their ions with different charges such as Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺, coloured compounds, and their use as catalysts.	14

Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table is 202 of the 1,386 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £7

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.