Elements

[Wolfgang]

Is it possible to make different atoms of different elements,but with a small mass?Like having an element which behaves like oxygen but it has the mass of hydrogen.

[pmb]

Is it possible to make different atoms of different elements,but with a small mass?Like having an element which behaves like oxygen but it has the mass of hydrogen.

Not to a great extent. What I mean is this - It's possible to have two oxygen oxygen atoms with different mass. This is due to different number of neutrons in the oxygen nucleus.

Edited May 16, 2012 by pmb

[granpa]

sometimes whole molecules act like giant atoms.

so it would in theory be possible to increase the mass.

but not decrease

[pmb]

sometimes whole molecules act like giant atoms.

so it would in theory be possible to increase the mass.

but not decrease

 

Please post such an exmple.

[granpa]

I read about it in science news many years ago while I was looking through old copies of the magazine

[pmb]

I read about it in science news many years ago while I was looking through old copies of the magazine

Relying on memory in science can be tricky. What the magazine meant by it said and your memory combines to be a problematic article retrieval in your memory. For example: Does the molecule have a spectrum which is the same as an atom etc.

 

More later

[granpa]

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2011/06/08/researchers.discover.superatoms.with.magnetic.shells

[pmb]

http://esciencenews....magnetic.shells

Great granpa! The reference is what I was asking for so thanks for the reference/link so thank you very much! When I have more time I'll have to read that in detail.

 

I'm curious as to the purpose of what the OP was looking for. E.g. does such a superatom exist for all elements etc

[mississippichem]

Is it possible to make different atoms of different elements,but with a small mass?Like having an element which behaves like oxygen but it has the mass of hydrogen.

 

The closest thing I can think of is an isotope, which has already been mentioned.

 

Hydrogen and deuterium constitute an interesting example. A deuterium atom is about twice as heavy as a ¹H atom and as a result there are noticeable chemical and spectroscopic differences.

 

sometimes whole molecules act like giant atoms.

so it would in theory be possible to increase the mass.

but not decrease

 

I've always thought that the term "superatom" was a bit sensationalist. Scientists pretty much give that name to every novel naked metallic cluster discovered. In other words, it's really just an exotic molecule with interesting electronic and orbital properties. Interesting though.

[Wolfgang]

What causes elements to bond together?is it mass or electrons?

[swansont]

What causes elements to bond together?is it mass or electrons?

 

Electrostatic (or electromagnetic) attraction. Electrons can be attracted to more than one set of protons, so the electrons are "shared", though depending on the element this can be unequal sharing. Normal sharing is called covalent bonding, and one nucleus can pull harder making a polar molecule. Some elements, though, will grab or give up the electron entirely, and form ions and the ions are attracted to each other. This is called ionic bonding.

[Wolfgang]

Is it possible for Hydrogen to behave much like Oxgen in chemical reactions?

 

 

[timo]

Is it possible to make different atoms of different elements,but with a small mass?Like having an element which behaves like oxygen but it has the mass of hydrogen.

If you are willing to stretch the term "atom" a bit (and in particular extend it to constructs that blow up within less than a second), then Muonium may qualify as an example of a lighter hydrogen atom. Of course, its properties are not exactly that of a hydrogen, but that you already put into your question (different mass).

[Enthalpy]

If you hope to see a nucleaus with 8 protons and 1 or 2 neutrons, it's no, it doesn't exist.

 

I'm not quite sure if these many protons would hold together without many neutrons... Standard theories tell the attraction force between two protons is essentialy as big as between two neutrons or between a neutro and a proton. But then, no di-neutron nor di-proton has been observed, which might maybe perhaps suggest a force only between neutrons and protons. Do we have direct access to individual forces between baryons? It seems all models result from indirect observations of complete nuclei.

 

One excellent reason against 8 protons and few neutrons is beta radioactivity. Protons would just emit a positron to convert into a neutron, so the nucleus would have about as many protons and neutrons, which is much more favourable. At such light elements, just two neutrons in excess or default result in a very short-lived isotope.

 

This nice site contains, among others, information about isotopes:

http://www.webelements.com/

and here are the isotopes of oxygen:

http://www.webelements.com/oxygen/isotopes.html

16 to 18 are stable, but 15 and 19 live around 1 min.

[John Cuthber]

Is it possible for Hydrogen to behave much like Oxgen in chemical reactions?

No.