What is the significance of the charges of subatomic particles

This is surrounded by electrons arranged in shells. The nucleus is tiny compared to the atom as a whole:. The nuclei of all atoms contain subatomic particles called protons. The nuclei of most atoms also contain neutrons. The masses of subatomic particles are very tiny. Chapter 2: Atoms and Elements. Chapter 1: Introduction: Matter and Measurement. Chapter 3: Molecules, Compounds, and Chemical Equations. Chapter 4: Chemical Quantities and Aqueous Reactions.

Chapter 5: Gases. Chapter 6: Thermochemistry. Chapter 7: Electronic Structure of Atoms. Chapter 8: Periodic Properties of the Elements. Chapter 9: Chemical Bonding: Basic Concepts. Chapter Liquids, Solids, and Intermolecular Forces. Chapter Solutions and Colloids.

Chapter Chemical Kinetics. Chapter Chemical Equilibrium. Chapter Acids and Bases. Chapter Acid-base and Solubility Equilibria. Chapter Thermodynamics. Chapter Electrochemistry. Chapter Radioactivity and Nuclear Chemistry. Chapter Transition Metals and Coordination Complexes. Chapter Biochemistry. Full Table of Contents. This is a sample clip. Sign in or start your free trial.

JoVE Core Chemistry. Previous Video Next Video. Next Video 2. Embed Share. Charge and mass are two fundamental properties of subatomic particles. Please enter your institutional email to check if you have access to this content. Please create an account to get access. Forgot Password? Please enter your email address so we may send you a link to reset your password.

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Thank You. Please enjoy a free hour trial. In order to begin, please login. Please click here to activate your free hour trial. If you do not wish to begin your trial now, you can log back into JoVE at any time to begin. In , the British physicist J. Thomson — proved that atoms were not the most basic form of matter. His experiments involved the use of cathode ray tubes CRT. Under a vacuumed environment, these devices produce invisible rays that originate from a negative electrode cathode and continue to a positive electrode anode.

In these experiments, Thomson demonstrated that cathode rays could be deflected, or bent, by magnetic or electric fields, which indicated that cathode rays consist of charged particles. More importantly, by measuring the extent of the deflection of the cathode rays in magnetic or electric fields of various strengths, Thomson was able to calculate the mass-to-charge ratio of the particles.

Because like charges repel each other and opposite charges attract, Thomson concluded that the particles had a net negative charge ; these particles are now called electrons.

Most relevant to the field of chemistry, Thomson found that the mass-to-charge ratio of cathode rays is independent of the nature of the metal electrodes or the gas, which suggested that electrons were fundamental components of all atoms. During the 's, experiments with x- rays led to this useful conclusion: the magnitude of the positive charge in the nucleus of every atom of a particular element is the same. In other words, all atoms of the same element have the same number of protons.

Furthermore, different elements have a different number of protons in their nuclei, so the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom is characteristic of a particular element. This discovery was so important to our understanding of atoms that the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom is called the atomic number.