IPhO 1970 · Theory problem 2

Mass of the hydrogen atom from the NaCl unit cell

A unit cell of a crystal of natrium chloride (common salt- NaCl) is a cube with the edge length \(a=5.6\cdot10^{-10}\,\mathrm{m}\) (Fig.2). The black circles in the figure stand for the position of natrium atoms whereas the white ones are chlorine atoms. The entire crystal of common salt turns out to be a repetition of such unit cells. The relative atomic mass of natrium is 23 and that of chlorine is 35,5. The density of the common salt \(\rho=2.22\cdot10^{3}\,\mathrm{kg/m^{3}}\). Find the mass of a hydrogen atom.

Figure 1

Fig. 2

Official English text of the problem.

Answers

  • Problem 2. \(m_{\mathrm H}\approx1.67\times10^{-27}\,\mathrm{kg}\), or \(\boxed{1.7\times10^{-27}\,\mathrm{kg}}\) to two significant figures.

Solution

Problem 2.

The mass assigned to one unit cell is its volume multiplied by the crystal density: \[ M_{\text{cell}}=\rho a^3. \]

To count the atoms belonging to a cell, we account for sharing between neighbouring cells. An atom at a corner belongs to eight cells, one at an edge midpoint to four, and one at a face centre to two. An atom inside the cube belongs entirely to that cell.

The white circles represent chlorine atoms at the eight corners and six face centres. Their effective number per cell is \[ N_{\mathrm{Cl}}=8\left(\frac18\right)+6\left(\frac12\right)=4. \] The black circles represent sodium atoms at the twelve edge midpoints and the body centre: \[ N_{\mathrm{Na}}=12\left(\frac14\right)+1=4. \] Thus each unit cell contains four NaCl formula units.

At the accuracy intended here, take hydrogen’s relative atomic mass as 1 and neglect mass changes due to chemical binding. The given relative atomic masses then imply \[ m_{\mathrm{Na}}\simeq23m_{\mathrm H}, \qquad m_{\mathrm{Cl}}\simeq35.5m_{\mathrm H}. \] Consequently, \[ \rho a^3 =4m_{\mathrm{Na}}+4m_{\mathrm{Cl}} \simeq4(23+35.5)m_{\mathrm H} =234m_{\mathrm H}. \]

Solving for the hydrogen-atom mass gives \[ m_{\mathrm H}\simeq\frac{\rho a^3}{234} =\frac{(2.22\times10^3\,\mathrm{kg/m^3}) (5.6\times10^{-10}\,\mathrm m)^3}{234} =1.666\ldots\times10^{-27}\,\mathrm{kg}. \] Since the edge length is given to two significant figures, \[ \boxed{m_{\mathrm H}\simeq1.7\times10^{-27}\,\mathrm{kg}}. \]

The solution was checked against the official solution.