Overview

Tom-the-Atom introduces Mary and Henry to a way of guessing an atom's character. An atom's role is based not from the family to which she/he belongs, but from their Group in the Periodic Table. The Group allows you to guess the number of valence electrons in the outermost shell. Tom-the-Atom divides the Periodic Table into 18 Columns and 8 Groups. Tom-the-Atom calls the third member in Column 1 (Group 1A): Sodium (after Hydrogen and Lithium), a member of the Alkali Metal Family. Lithium and Sodium are from Group 1A; they have only one valence electron in their outermost shell. In Group 1A, the Alkali Metal family, the atoms readily give their valence electron away and become positives ions, or more accurately, Cations. The only shell that may not be full to its rim is the outermost shell. If an atom has few electrons (less than four) in his exterior shell, the Atom will prefer to give those electrons away. That way, the Atom will keep only his full inner shells, which are complete. Once the atoms lose one electron (or more), the atoms become positively-charged (minus a negative charge). They will form strong ionic bonds with negative ions [or Anions (those that have captured electrons)] to build molecules and compounds; if they are close by. Tom-the-Atom also explains how Sodium forms common Salt. When Chlorine (Group 7A = seven outermost electrons) grabs an electron from Sodium, it becomes negatively charged (becomes a Chloride anion). Chloride anion attracts the Sodium positive ion! Sodium a positive ion (an atom that loses electrons) and Chloride (a negative ion that grabbed electrons) are attracted to each other-- by being joined together by an Ionic Bond. If they are close, they attract each other to form a molecule of common Salt (Sodium--(NaCl)--Chloride). Natural Salt (NaCl) separates back into ions (Sodium ions and Chloride ions) when dissolved in water, and we say that Salt is soluble in water!

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9781676879640

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