Dr. Stephen Lukacs (October 2017)
All stuff is made of chemicals, matter. All matter uses energy to interact, transform, and react. Matter and energy, energy and matter. From the distant stars, our moon, to the air in the atmosphere, the depths of our oceans and planet, to the nature and mystery of living system. Matter and energy, energy and matter. All of matter is founded on the structure of the atom. The entire collection of various atoms are known, and are known to be listed in the Periodic Table of the Elements.
(October 2017) The atom is composed of a center, or nucleus, comprised of only protons and neutrons with orbitals of electrons some far distance from the atom's nucleus.
(October 2017) The subatomic particles are covered and their interplay to create the atom, which have a zero charge. Ions are the nonzero charged atom analog. The PodCast also covers basic calculations between mass (isotopes), protons, neutrons, charge, and electrons.
Remember: Atoms are zero charged elements, ions are nonzero charged elements, and isotopes have the same protons, so they are the same element, they just vary in the number of neutrons in the nucleus, so an isotope's mass varies also.
(October 2017) Electron configurations are a symbolic shorthand for the residences or orbitals of the electrons around the central nucleus of the atom or ion. Understanding electron configurations is essential to understanding the basis of ionic and covalent bonding, as well as, reactivity and chemical reactions. Lewis structures are a shorthand pictorial concept to help manage the electrons of only the last s & p orbitals leading to the Octet Rule.