Ellesmere Chemistry Wiki
Advertisement
Ellesmere

The Basics[]

You need to know next to nothing about the nucleus that you didn't learn at GCSE.

Unlike the nucleus in Biology the nucleus in Chemistry is always at the centre of the atom rather than somewhere randomly within the cell membrane.

As far as A level is concerned the only nucleons it contains are Protons and Neutrons.

Consequently, all nuclei will always be positively charged.

Since electrons are so light, the nucleus contains very nearly all the mass of the atom.

Details of Strong and Weak Nuclear forces are the concern of Physics and, therefore, of no interest to real people.

Nucleus

Exam Hint[]

You don't even need to know how the nucleons are arranged.

You just need to know how many of each type of nucleon the nucleus contains based on the Atomic and Mass Numbers.

Advertisement