The symbol for carbon in the Periodic Table is C 6 12 . Describe the electronic structure of a carbon atom.

The symbol C 6 12 , C represents carbon, 12 is the mass number of carbon and 6 represents the atomic number of carbon. Carbon contains 6 protons and 6 neutrons. Protons are present inside the nucleus and the electrons revolve around the nucleus. The electronic configuration of carbon is: 2 , 4 . It contains 2 electrons in the first shell and 4 electrons in the second shell. There are 12 - 6 = 6 neutrons in the nucleus of the carbon atom.

These diagrams show two different models of the atom. State two similarities and one difference between the two models.

The similarities between Rutherford's model and Bohr's model are: 1. There is a positive nucleus at the centre of the atom in both the models. 2. In both the models, electrons revolve around the nucleus. The dissimilarity between the two models is: 1. In Rutherford's model, electrons revolve around the nucleus in circular orbits, but he could not explain exactly where or how electrons orbit the nucleus. In Bohr's model, electrons revolve around the nucleus in fixed paths called orbits.