Books with title The Atom Bomb

Everything is made up of atoms. There are many kinds of atoms, and groups of one kind of atom come together to create elements. Physicists, the scientists who study atoms, ask questions like: What do atoms do? How do atoms interact with each other? They are also interested in the energy that atoms produce. For more information on atoms and physicists, read Marie Curie: Pioneering Physicist, another book in the Mission: Science series.

Tom the Atom Book 4: Water Matters.Tom-the-Atom (Carbon atom) introduces to Mary and Henry two brothers, from his same family of Non-Metals: Hydrogen and Oxygen. Henry, Mary, and Tom-the-Atom--by holding hands and saying the magic words-- shrink to a minuscule size. They land in the World of Atoms. Tom-the-Atom introduces, to Mary and Henry, the Hydrogen and Oxygen atoms--his brothers from the same Non-Metals family- and the concept of molecules. Hydrogen has one valence electron or “hand” and one “empty sleeve” (two “hands” or valence electrons will make his small, first, and the only shell full). Oxygen has six “hands” and two “empty sleeves” [eight valence electrons will make his outer (second) shell complete]. The two Hydrogen (H) atoms share one “hand” and one “empty sleeve” with the oxygen (O) atom to form a water molecule (H2O; i.e., H-O-H). Water is a very happy and stable molecule. It is an essential molecule in the world because life could not exist without water. Do you know that more than 65% of your body is water? Water is crucial to life and has many beautiful properties.

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Tom the Atom, Book 2: Atoms are like guys, with big eyes that look at you in surprise and have different round sizes. GOAL: To describe how atoms are formed. In addition, what gives atoms his/her character?Tom-the-Atom introduces to Mary and Henry all naturally existing atoms (92) and their 10 families–families are classified “by Physical and Chemical similarities.” All the 92 atoms are organized in a general table (called the “Chemical Periodic Table”).Tom-the-Atom explains to Henry and Mary how all atom’s bodies are similar in general structure but are different in detail and character. They are similar because the bodies of all atoms have neutrons and protons in their nucleus (or central part) and electrons rotating around their nucleus (in belts or shells or orbitals)—not quite, but like the planets circling the sun! The number of protons inside an atom’s belly is matched by the same number of electrons in the atom’s shells. Each shell has a maximum number of electrons that can be accommodated. When a shell or belt is full, a new, outer shell will appear that has a maximum number of electrons that it can accommodate, too. The outermost shell’s electrons are called VALENCE electrons and they are very important because they largely dictate the atom’s character: If that outermost shell is full to its rim, the atoms will be passive and will not form a bond to another atom. If atoms have only a few electrons in this outermost shell they love to lose those electrons and be reduced to their lower full shell. These atoms acquire a positive charge because, by losing electrons, they will have more protons in their belly (which are positive). Atoms that lose electrons an become negative are called “Positive Ions” or “cations”. If atoms have more electrons than empty spaces—in their outermost shell— the atoms love to grab electrons to fill that outermost shell and they will acquire a negative charge because there are now more electrons than protons. These atoms when they grab electrons are called “Negative Ions” or “anions.” Real thieves!

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Tom the Atom, Book 3: Bonds make a world fond.GOAL: To introduce the concept of Covalent Bonds.Henry, Mary, and Tom-the-Atom hold hands and say the magic words that make them very small and allow them to visit the world of the atoms. The shell closest to the nucleus can accommodate up to two electrons. The next shell can accommodate eight electrons, and the one after that can have eighteen electrons. However, we can say that, in general, if the atom is tiny (Hydrogen and Helium), they will have only one shell, and it can accommodate up to two electrons (one for Hydrogen and two for Helium). If the atom is larger, the shells are subdivided into subshells, and the outermost subshell can accommodate up to eight valence electrons. Tom-the-Atom calls the valence electrons in the outer shell “hands.” If the outer shell is not full, that shell will have “empty spaces” waiting to be filled by other atom’s electrons. Tom-the-Atom calls those empty spaces “empty sleeves.” One “hand” and one “empty sleeve” shared with another atom makes a bond. Tom-the-Atom introduces to Henry and Mary the concept of Covalent Bond between atoms. A covalent bond is defined as “a double handshake” between two atoms’ outermost shells (orbital). Tom-the-Atom (Carbon), for example, has four “hands” (or valence electrons) and four “empty sleeves” (or missing electrons in his outermost shell, to a total of eight. One Covalent Bond is formed when two atoms share one “hand” and one “empty sleeve” simultaneously to produce a firm “handshake” between two atoms—each atom “hand” slides into an “empty sleeve.” We represent this “single bond” between atoms X and Y by X-Y. Tom-the-Atom can also form four single covalent bonds with four different atoms, in that case, the total number of handshakes involving Tom-the-Atom is four.

Tom the Atom, Book 6: Lithium, highly reactive and flammable, do not eat it; it may make you distractible! Tom-the-Atom introduces you, Mary, and Henry, to her cousin Lithium the Li atom. Lithium belongs to the family of the Alkali Metals. Column 1, Group 1A, Lithium has two shells: a full, inner K shell with two electrons and an outer, L-shell, with only one valence electron (practically empty; L is complete with eight electrons). Column 1 of the Periodic Table Alkali Metals family is called Group 1A. All atoms in Column 1A has one outermost electron. But Hydrogen has only one shell and does not belong to the Alkali Metals family and is identified separately. All the others in Group 1A prefer to lose their outermost shell's electron than share the missing "empty sleeves"! That is why Alkali Metals are very reactive! By losing her solely outermost electron, which has a negative charge, the atom becomes positively charged (now has one more positive proton in her belly than electrons in her shells), and an atom that loses (or gains) a charge is called an ION.In the Periodic Table, a measure of how easy an atom gets his/her electron stolen or how easy it is for an atom grabs an electron is called Electro-negativity. Atoms with large electro-negativity are real thieves, while those with low electro-negativity are eager to lose their electrons to the thieves! When that happens, the first atom becomes a negatively-charged ion while the second becomes a positively-charged ion. It happens that Positive Ions (has lost an electron) and Negative Ions (has stolen an electron) attract each other if they come close near. They form an IONIC Bond: The atom that had its electron taken and the thief that has gained electrons become friends! Note that opposites charges ("+" and "–"charges) attract, but like charges ("+" and "+" or "-"and "-"charges) repel.