This article was co-authored by Anne Schmidt. Anne Schmidt is a Chemistry Instructor in Wisconsin. Anne has been teaching high school chemistry for over 20 years and is passionate about providing accessible and educational chemistry content. She has over 9,000 subscribers to her educational chemistry YouTube channel. She has presented at the American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AATC) and was an Adjunct General Chemistry Instructor at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. Anne was published in the Journal of Chemical Education as a Co-Author, has an article in ChemEdX, and has presented twice and was published with the AACT. Anne has a BS in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, and an MA in Secondary Education and Teaching from Viterbo University.
There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.
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Every atom in the universe is a particular element. But how do we tell which of the 100+ elements it is? A larger pile of stuff might give us helpful clues: we can tell that iron is heavy, and grey, and magnetic. As you study chemistry, you'll learn that all of those qualities come from small differences in the structure of atoms. This understanding of atomic structure is the foundation for the tools actual scientists use to identify elements.
Steps
Expert Q&A
- QuestionWhat kind of test can I perform to identify an element?Anne SchmidtAnne Schmidt is a Chemistry Instructor in Wisconsin. Anne has been teaching high school chemistry for over 20 years and is passionate about providing accessible and educational chemistry content. She has over 9,000 subscribers to her educational chemistry YouTube channel. She has presented at the American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AATC) and was an Adjunct General Chemistry Instructor at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. Anne was published in the Journal of Chemical Education as a Co-Author, has an article in ChemEdX, and has presented twice and was published with the AACT. Anne has a BS in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, and an MA in Secondary Education and Teaching from Viterbo University.
Chemistry InstructorA fun way to do this is by performing a flame test. Although some elements may not have a reaction when ignited. But usually, it's metal elements that have lost electrons that tend to burn a specific color in a flame, or at least a fairly unique color. And so fireworks are based on this property; the age of stars is based on this property; and an instrument called an atomic absorption emission spectrum called an AE is based on this property. Each element has a unique color based on those electron transitions.
Tips
- Mass spectrometer readings get complicated when you sample large molecules that can break into many parts.[13] If you can narrow down the sample to a few possibilities, you can look up the mass spectra of each one and compare that to your actual results.Thanks
- Electron configurations can also be written in noble gas notation, which uses a noble gas element symbol to stand in for that element's electron shell.[14] For instance, can be expanded with neon's electron configuration into . To identify the element by electron count, add the electrons in the expanded configuration.[15] In this case there are 2+2+6+2+4 = 16 electrons, so this must be the sixteenth element, sulfur.Thanks
- Most periodic tables show two numbers next to each element. The smaller one (that always goes up by 1 as you go left to right) is the atomic number or proton number. The larger number is the atomic mass.Thanks
Warnings
- If you are given an electron configuration in an excited state, you can't use the highest energy electron to identify the element. Identify the ground state for that number of electrons first.Thanks
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References
- ↑ https://opentextbc.ca/geology/chapter/2-1-electrons-protons-neutrons-and-atoms/
- ↑ https://flexbooks.ck12.org/cbook/ck-12-chemistry-flexbook-2.0/section/5.18/primary/lesson/electron-configurations-chem
- ↑ https://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/topicreview/bp/ch6/index.php
- ↑ https://blog.cambridgecoaching.com/electron-configurations-a-must-know-hack
- ↑ https://www.technologyuk.net/science/matter/lanthanides.shtml
- ↑ http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/phys312/workshops/w10b/spectra/mystery_spectra.html
- ↑ http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/phys312/workshops/w10b/spectra/mystery_spectra.html
- ↑ https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry_Textbook_Maps/Supplemental_Modules_(Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry)/Spectroscopy/Electronic_Spectroscopy/Electronic_Spectroscopy%3A_Interpretation
- ↑ https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/2016/11/23/quick_analysis_of_ir_spectra/
- ↑ https://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/reusch/virttxtjml/spectrpy/massspec/masspec1.htm
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOIyQ4035tU&t=155s
- ↑ https://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/reusch/virttxtjml/spectrpy/massspec/masspec1.htm
- ↑ https://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/reusch/virttxtjml/spectrpy/massspec/masspec1.htm
- ↑ https://courses.lumenlearning.com/cheminter/chapter/noble-gas-configuration/
- ↑ https://courses.lumenlearning.com/cheminter/chapter/noble-gas-configuration/
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