Science can often feel like an overwhelming subject for many; however, it is a necessity in your everyday life. The aim of science is simple — to find out all about the order in the universe and organise and define that information based on that order.
With the discovery of elements, the next step was taken to understand whether the data of each element was different or not. Mendeleev was among the first who started organising this data or the elements based on their atomic weights.
Once a detailed study was done, scientists slowly rearranged and organised the elements depending on the proton numbers in the nucleus. It is, in simple words, called the atomic number, and here, detailed information would be provided on all the 118 elements and their atomic numbers.
What Are Elements?
At first, the chemical behaviour intrigued scientists into classifying matter into different elements. What is chemical behaviour? The ability of an atom to combine with another atom. What does chemical behaviour depend on?
The type and number of chemical bonds that one atom can create with another define chemical behaviour.
Can two atoms show the same kind of chemical behaviour? If two different atoms have the same kind of bond, then their chemical behaviour can be similar.
Atomic Number- How Is It Defined?
Defining atomic numbers should be done when students are at their chemistry foundation level. The atomic number of any element is the number of protons present within the nucleus of each atom of that particular element.
Therefore, each element can be differentiated from other elements depending on their total number of protons, defining their chemical behaviour.
The periodic table gives you detailed data of all the elements, arranged in their atomic numbers in increasing order. The atomic number is positioned above the element symbol. You would see that Hydrogen on its upper left has the number 1, which is the atomic number. It is known that atoms are neutral; therefore, it is easy to figure out that the number of protons would equalCaesium the number of electrons.
What Should You Know About THe History Of Atomic Numbers?
Leucippus and Demokritos were the first ones who thought that the earth and the universe might be made of small particles, which they termed atoms. However, Aristotle was not of the same view.
Later, atoms are considered the central or the structural blocks of everything, and except for common hydrogen forms, each comes with electrons, protons, and neutrons.
Isotopes are defined as atoms that come with the same atomic number but have different neutron numbers. When it comes to the isotopic mass of any isotopic mixture within a defined environment, it determines the atomic weight of that element.
Orbital Energy Levels
Electrons are located at a particular energy level; these energy level sections are called orbitals. The first orbital can consist of a maximum of two electrons. An easy way to understand how electrons are distributed is through diagrams.
The atomic number of any element would tell you the number of protons that are present. An example would be the atomic number of carbon is 6; therefore, the distribution would be 2,4. If an atom comes with an atomic number of 13, the distribution would be 2,8,2.
All The Elements And Their Atomic Numbers
Let us find out What are the 118 elements of the periodic table.
| Element | Symbol | Atomic Number |
| Hydrogen | H | 1 |
| Helium | He | 2 |
| Lithium | Li | 3 |
| Beryllium | Be | 4 |
| Boron | B | 5 |
| Carbon | C | 6 |
| Nitrogen | N | 7 |
| Oxygen | O | 8 |
| Fluorine | F | 9 |
| Neon | Ne | 10 |
| Sodium | Na | 11 |
| Magnesium | Mg | 12 |
| Aluminium | Al | 13 |
| Silicon | Si | 14 |
| Phosphorous | P | 15 |
| Sulfur | S | 16 |
| Chlorine | Cl | 17 |
| Argon | Ar | 18 |
| Potassium | K | 19 |
| Calcium | Ca | 20 |
| Scandium | Sc | 21 |
| Titanium | Ti | 22 |
| Vanadium | V | 23 |
| Chromium | Cr | 24 |
| Manganese | Mn | 25 |
| Iron | Fe | 26 |
| Cobalt | Co | 27 |
| Nickel | Ni | 28 |
| Copper | Cu | 29 |
| Zinc | Zn | 30 |
| Gallium | Ga | 31 |
| Germanium | Ge | 32 |
| Arsenic | As | 33 |
| Selenium | Se | 34 |
| Bromine | Br | 35 |
| Krypton | Kr | 36 |
| Rubidium | Rb | 37 |
| Strontium | Sr | 38 |
| Yttrium | Y | 39 |
| Zirconium | Zr | 40 |
| Niobium | Nb | 41 |
| Molybdenum | Mo | 42 |
| Technetium | Tc | 43 |
| Ruthenium | Ru | 44 |
| Rhodium | Rh | 45 |
| Palladium | Pd | 46 |
| Silver | Ag | 47 |
| Cadmium | Cd | 48 |
| Indium | In | 49 |
| Tin | Sn | 50 |
| Antimony | Sb | 51 |
| Tellurium | Te | 52 |
| Iodine | I | 53 |
| Xenon | Xe | 54 |
| Cesium | Cs | 55 |
| Barium | Ba | 56 |
| Lanthanum | La | 57 |
| Cerium | Ce | 58 |
| Praseodymium | Pr | 59 |
| Neodymium | Nd | 60 |
| Promethium | Pm | 61 |
| Samarium | Sm | 62 |
| Europium | Eu | 63 |
| Gadolinium | Gd | 64 |
| Terbium | Tb | 65 |
| Dysprosium | Dy | 66 |
| Holmium | Ho | 67 |
| Erbium | Er | 68 |
| Thulium | Tm | 69 |
| Ytterbium | Yb | 70 |
| Lutetium | Lu | 71 |
| Hafnium | Hf | 72 |
| Tantalum | Ta | 73 |
| Tungsten | W | 74 |
| Rhenium | Re | 75 |
| Osmium | Os | 76 |
| Iridium | Ir | 77 |
| Platinum | Pt | 78 |
| Gold | Au | 79 |
| Mercury | Hg | 80 |
| Thallium | Tl | 81 |
| Lead | Pb | 82 |
| Bismuth | Bi | 83 |
| Polonium | Po | 84 |
| Astatine | At | 85 |
| Radon | Rn | 86 |
| Francium | Fr | 87 |
| Radium | Ra | 88 |
| Actinium | Ac | 89 |
| Thorium | Th | 90 |
| Protactinium | Pa | 91 |
| Uranium | U | 92 |
| Neptunium | Np | 93 |
| Plutonium | Pu | 94 |
| Americium | Am | 95 |
| Curium | Cm | 96 |
| Berkelium | Bk | 97 |
| Californium | Cf | 98 |
| Einsteinium | Es | 99 |
| Fermium | Fm | 100 |
| Mendelevium | Md | 101 |
| Nobelium | No | 102 |
| Lawrencium | Lr | 103 |
| Rutherfordium | Rf | 104 |
| Dubnium | Db | 105 |
| Seaborgium | Sg | 106 |
| Bohrium | Bh | 107 |
| Hassium | Hs | 108 |
| Meitnerium | Mt | 109 |
| Darmstadtium | Ds | 110 |
| Roentgenium | Rg | 111 |
| Copernicium | Cn | 112 |
| Nihonium | Nh | 113 |
| Flerovium | Fl | 114 |
| Moscovium | Mc | 115 |
| Livermorium | Lv | 116 |
| Tennessine | Ts | 117 |
| Oganesson | Og | 118 |
Atomic Weight- What Does It Mean?
Like protons are present in an atom, the atom’s nucleus also contains neutrons, which help keep the nucleus intact. Without any electrical charge, neutrons are slightly bigger than protons, and as they can break down, it is often considered a blend of proton and an electron.
As neutrons are heavier than protons, they could add weight to the atom as a whole. The atom’s weight is called the atomic weight, which equals the number of neutrons and protons. The stability and radioactivity of the atom depend highly on the neutron.
Conclusion
Therefore, these are some of the basics of atomic numbers. All the 118 elements and their atomic numbers have been given to understand what they are and their importance.
