ELEMENTS & ATOMS

• Everything around you is made of matter, and matter is made of at least one element. An element is made of atoms that are all the same kind. It is a pure form of matter.  Elements join together with other elements to make different materials that we see and use every day.

• Some common elements that you might have heard about are oxygen, carbon, helium, gold, and silver. If you have a lump of silver, all of the atoms that make up that lump of silver are the same. There are more than 100 different elements that we know of today. They are arranged on a scientific chart called the periodic table. The table provides us with information about the elements’ atoms and properties (what they look like and how they act in different situations).

• Each element has its own box on the chart that shows its atomic number, its symbol, and its name.   The atomic number tells us how many protons (positively charged particles) are in each atom of a specific element. Where the element is located on the periodic table tells us what other elements are similar to that element, and how they look and act. Elements can be metals, nonmetals, or semimetals. Semimetals have some of the characteristics of metals, and some of the characteristics of nonmetals. Metals, nonmetals, and semimetals are grouped   together on the table, and coded with a different colors.

 Name:__________________________________

Answer the following questions based on the reading passage. Do not forget to go back to the passage whenever necessary to find or confirm   your answers.

1)  Which is larger, an atom or an element?  Explain.

2)   What is the purpose of the periodic table?

 

3) About how many different elements do we know about?

4)  What is included in the box for each element?

5)   What is a semimetal like?