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ParticlesAtoms and Compounds and Molecules, Oh
My!
(Gas)
One Element (A)
The Same Element (B)(Solid)
This one likes to go round in pairs as a
gas (molecules)
Another element (B)
A mixture of two elements (A and
B)
Compare it to the mixture of two
different elements you drew before
This is a COMPOUND of two different
elements (A and B) (not a mixture!)
Element, Compound or
Mixture ?
Element, Compound or
Mixture ?
Element
Element, Compound or
Mixture ?
Element, Compound or
Mixture ?
Element
Element, Compound or
Mixture ?
Element, Compound or
Mixture ?
Mixture
Element, Compound or
Mixture ?
Element, Compound or
Mixture ?
Mixture
Element, Compound or
Mixture ?
Element, Compound or
Mixture ?
Compound
Element, Compound or
Mixture ?
Element, Compound or
Mixture ?
Compound
Element, Compound or
Mixture ?
Element, Compound or
Mixture ?
A mixture of a compound and
an element
What do we call these things?
An Atom
3 Atoms
What do we call these things?
6 Atoms which happen to be of 3 different elements
What do we call these things?
A Molecule
Yes, it also happens to be 2 atoms joined
together but we don’t call it “2 atoms joined together” we say it is
one molecule
What do we call these things?
A Molecule of a compound
2 molecules of a compound
A compound has a definite ratio
of atoms, e.g. H2O is
2 HydrogensTo 1 Oxygen,
always
What about when all the atoms are
stuck together like in a solid element?
This is just a load of atoms in a solid
element, it is not a big molecule
Finally, just to confuse you even more, science teachers like talking
about
ParticlesParticle is just a fancy name for
individual things. These individual things could be atoms, molecules,
lumps of soil, grains of sand, bits of metal. It doesn’t matter because
particle is just a general word which is used when we don’t (or can’t) want to
be exact about the type of things being described.
A good example of when science teachers use the word particle is
when talking about air.
Air is a mixture of elements such as oxygen, argon and nitrogen mixed with compounds such as
carbon dioxide
Some of the elements in air go around as single atoms (such as
argon).
Or as molecules such as oxygen.
Compounds go around as molecules.
That’s why we talk about particles because it saves the bother of describing exactly what sort of
things they are.
