By George Yan (9th Grade)
Model 1. The Atom, Prior Knowledge
a single drawing that represents a model for an atom and include a list of atomic information.
4 Electrons
4 Protons
3 Neutrons
Model 2. PhET simulation
Key Information
Three primary particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons to build atom. The protons and neutrons can only be put into the center, while electrons are restricted to the outside orbits (away from the center).
The protons are the particles that effect the element name.
From model 2, for oxygen atoms, there are 8 protons inside their nucleus.
The protons and neutrons are responsible for the mass of an atom. A Helium atom with
2 protons and 2 neutrons have a mass number of 4. When either one of those are taken
away, the mass number drops. However, taking away/giving electrons does not change
the mass number at all, making only the protons and neutrons responsible.
Table “Symbol” for a few atom and their characteristics
Similarities include both having 1 proton and 1 electron. However, some differences they have include one of them having 1 neutron, while the other one has none.
The protons and electrons affect the net charge. In the table, the net charge is always the difference between the protons and electrons. The neutrons do nothing to alter this value.
Adjustments
Based on my analysis of Model 2 and the insights gained from answering Key Questions #1-8, I propose the following adjustments to my drawing in Model 1：
- | would add an extra neutron in order to make my atom stable, but other than that it is mostly the same as the Model 2.
- The orbit paths in my Model 1 also have more depth than the Model 2 (creating a 3d illusion), but | don’t see any reason to put them back into 2d form.
Additional Analysis
Reference
PhET Interactive Simulations, a project at the University of Colorado Boulder, is a non-profit open educational resource project that creates and hosts explorable explanations. It was founded in 2002 by Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman. PhET began with Wieman’s vision to improve the way science is taught and learned. Wikipedia
