| Creation Truth Outreach, Inc. Pamphlet |
| © 2007 Creation Truth Outreach, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This pamphlet may be freely copied provided it is copied in its entirety, its contents are not altered in any manner, and additional or tighter copyright restrictions than these are not imposed on it. Revised May 5, 2008 |
| Appendix A. Tutorial 1. Atoms and Molecules An atom is a unit of matter that contains a nucleus surrounded by one or more electrons. The primary components of a nucleus are protons and neutrons. Thus, an atom consists of three primary components or particles as they are technically called: neutrons, protons, and electrons. There are two basic characteristics that distinguish the three particles: mass and electrical charge. Since weight is simply the resultant force produced by a body of mass under the influence of gravity, then from a layman’s point of view one might think of the particles as distinguished from each other by their weights and their electrical charges. A neutron has no electrical charge. A proton has exactly one unit of positive charge. An electron has exactly one unit of negative charge. A neutron and a proton have almost the same mass (or weight) as each other. By contrast, an electron is light. It only has about 1/2000 the mass of a proton or neutron. 205 The kind of atom is determined by the number of protons in the atom’s nucleus. Therefore, we can make a chart showing the number of nuclear protons in one column and the names of the corresponding elements in its adjacent column. These are some of the better-known kinds of atoms (elements): protons element 1 hydrogen 6 carbon 7 nitrogen 8 oxygen 15 phosphorous 26 iron 79 gold 92 uranium So, a hydrogen atom has one proton in its nucleus. A carbon atom has six protons in its nucleus. Similar relationships apply down the list. An object with positive charge attracts objects with negative charges and repels other objects with positive charges. Likewise, an object with negative charge attracts objects with positive charges and repels other objects with negative charges. Or, as it is commonly shortened to, opposite charges attract each other and similar charges repel each other. If two or more atoms are brought close to each other, then under certain circumstances they may share some of their electrons. Shared electrons result in atoms bonding to each other. Chemical Bonds There are five kinds of bonds between atoms. Two of these are strong and three are week. Strong Bonds. The strong bonds are ionic bonds and covalent bonds. These kinds of bonds are typically discussed in high school chemistry books. Atoms joined by ionic bonds typically form crystals. Atoms joined by covalent bonds typically form discrete molecules. Here are examples of three common molecules that we will talk about frequently in later sessions. 1. Methane. One atom of carbon can make covalent bonds with four atoms of hydrogen. This forms one molecule of methane, more commonly called natural gas. 2. Ammonia. One atom of nitrogen can make covalent bonds with three atoms of hydrogen. This forms one molecule of ammonia. 3. Formic Acid. Formic acid is more commonly known as bee sting venom. It also gives ants their characteristic pungent smell. Formic acid is made of one carbon atom joined to two oxygen atoms and two hydrogen atoms. Weak Bonds. The three weak kinds of bonds are hydrogen bonds, Van Der Waals forces, and London dispersion forces. These weaker bonds are extremely important in biological compounds. However, at our level of discussion in this presentation, we only need to know that the weak bonds are the kinds of bonds that make tar. The natural tendency for biological compounds to form tar was the first fatal roadblock presented in the first session. We will discuss the weak bonds briefly in the next session when we talk about tar. Carbon. Carbon is a unique element. Physical life at the chemical level is structured around carbon’s characteristics. Two of these are particularly important. 1. A carbon atom is capable of sharing 4 electrons with other atoms. This allows it to make 4 covalent bonds, which is more than most other elements. This in turn allows carbon form the complicated molecular structures required for physical life. It is also why a molecule of methane is composed of one carbon and 4 hydrogen atoms. 2. Carbon atoms like to form long chains with themselves. Consider a garbage bag. It is made of a plastic called polyethylene. Polyethylene molecules are made from several hundred thousand- carbon molecules strong together in a long chain. Each carbon atom in the chain, except those at the ends, have one bond connected to the molecule ahead of it, one to the molecule behind it, and the remaining two connected to two hydrogen atoms. It is this capacity for carbon to form long chains that makes the molecules of life possible. |