ATOMIC HISTORY AND MODEL

ATOM

 basic building block of matter

 smallest part of an element
 consists of subatomic particles (proton, neutron, electron) that differ in their location, charge,
and relative mass.
 The nucleus is the center of an atom. It contains protons and neutrons

WHEN AN ATOM IS HEATED, IT BEGINS TO EMIT LIGHT OF A DEFINITE COLOR
Light emitted by atom is discontinuous called Atomic Emission Spectrum

DEMOCRITUS
- was a Greek philosopher who was the first person to use the term atom
- atomos meaning indivisible
- He thought that if you take a piece of matter and divide it and continue to divide it you will
eventually come to a point where you could not divide it any more. INDIVISIBLE
- All matter consists of atoms, which are bits of matter too small to be seen. There is an empty
space between atoms
- Atoms are completely solid
- Atoms have no internal structure
- Each atom (of a different substance) is different in size, weight and shape
- This theory was ignored and forgotten for more than 2000 years!

JOHN DALTON
Dalton used experimental method to transform Democritus’s idea of atoms into a scientific theory.
Dalton studied the ratios in which elements combine and the result was Dalton’s atomic theory.
This theory became one of the foundations of modern chemistry.
DALTON’S ATOMIC THEORY
1. Elements are made of tiny particles called atoms.
2. Atoms of a given element are identical.
3. Atoms of different elements differ from each other in some fundamental way.
4. Atoms of one element can join with atoms of other elements to form compounds.
5. Atoms are indivisible in chemical reactions.

JOSEPH JOHN THOMSON

In 1897, the English scientist J.J. Thomson provided the first hint that an atom is made of even smaller
particles.
He introduced the idea of negatively charged particle called “electron”
He proposed a model of the atom that is sometimes called the “Plum Pudding” model.
Atoms were made from a positively charged substance with negatively charged electrons scattered
about, like raisins in a pudding.

Thomson concluded that the negative charges came from within the atom.
A particle smaller than an atom had to exist.
The atom was divisible!
ERNEST RUTHERFORD
Rutherford’s experiment Involved firing a stream of tiny positively charged particles at a thin sheet of
gold foil (2000 atoms thick)
Most of the positively charged “bullets” passed right through the gold atoms in the sheet of gold foil
without changing course at all.
Some of the positively charged “bullets,” however, did bounce away from the gold sheet as if they
had hit something solid. He knew that positive charges repel positive charges.
Rutherford reasoned that all of an atom’s positively charged particles were contained in the nucleus.
The negatively charged particles were scattered outside the nucleus around the atom’s edge.

NEIL BOHR
In 1913, the Danish scientist Niels Bohr proposed an improvement. In his model, he placed each
electron in a specific energy level.
According to Bohr’s atomic model, electrons move in definite orbits around the nucleus, much like
planets circle the sun. These orbits, or energy levels, are located at certain distances from the nucleus.

ARNOLD SOMMERFELD
A brilliant German Physicist, modified Niels Bohr’s atomic theory to include elliptical orbit.
Electrons are moving around the nucleus.
Assumed that orbits doesn’t have to be spherical but can also be elliptical
Electrons are moving around the nucleus.
Assumed that orbits doesn’t have to be spherical but can also be elliptical

ERWIN SCHRODINGER
A physicist and biologist and was considered a Father of Quantum Mechanics.
Electrons do not move around an atom in a definite path like the planets around the sun.
Electron whirl about the nucleus billions of time in one second
Location of electrons depends how much energy the electron has.
“Electron Cloud Model”

Eugene Goldstein (1850-1930)

• Goldstein discovered the proton.
James Chadwick (1891-1974)
Chadwick discovered the neutron.

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