Science 9 Review: History of

Atomic Theory and Models

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Scientists and their models(timeline)

Leucippus (Fifth Century BCE) - Using scientific reasoning and
observation, the Pre-Socratic philosopher Leucippus developed the
theory of atomism, which posited that the whole universe is made up of
solid atoms constantly moving through void, or empty space. Leucippus'
theory of atomism was developed even further by his pupil, Democritus.

Democritus(400 B.C) - Democritus's greatest contribution to modern

science was arguably the atomic theory he elucidated. According to
Democritus' atomic theory, the universe and all matter obey the
following principles: Everything is composed of “atoms”, which are
physically, but not geometrically, indivisible.

John Dalton(1803) - Dalton's theory

was based on the concept that each
element consists of its own unique
Rutherford (1909) - Ernest Rutherford
discovered the nucleus of the atom in
1911. He discovered that there are two
types of radiation, alpha and beta
particles, coming from uranium. He
found that the atom consists mostly of
empty space, with its mass
concentrated in a central positively
charged nucleus.
Gold foil experiment showed that the
atom is mostly empty space with a
tiny, dense, positively-charged
nucleus.
Rutherford's atomic model became
known as the nuclear model. In the
nuclear atom, the protons and
neutrons, which comprise nearly all of
the mass of the atom, are located in the
nucleus at the center of the atom. The
electrons are distributed around the
nucleus and occupy most of the
volume of the atom.
Niels Bohr (1913) - Proposed that
electrons travel in around the
nucleus in well-defined paths called
orbits He called
his model the Planetary Model
because it resembles the our very own
solar system.

Werner Karl Heisenberg (1927) -

Contributed to atomic theory through
formulating quantum mechanics in
terms of matrices and in discovering
the uncertainty principle, which states
that a particle's position and
momentum cannot both be known
exactly.
Erwin Schrodinger(1926) – Proposed
the Quantum Mechanical Model of the
Atom views electrons within an atom
as waves, not as particles as previously
believed. Because of this, electrons
can be described as having a high
probability of residing in specific
orbitals, or regions of space, within the
atom. In Schrödinger's model,
electrons do not follow sharply
defined orbits (like in Bohr's model),
but rather are found in orbitals. In
addition, Schrödinger's atomic model
is based on the quantum mechanical
and wave nature of electrons, both of
which are described in equations
called wave functions.
J.J Thomson (1897) - Thomson
discovered the electron and then went
on to propose a model for the structure
of the atom. His work also led to the
invention of the mass spectrograph.
He also performed a series of
experiments in 1897 designed to study
the nature of electric discharge in a
high-vacuum cathode-ray tube, an area
being investigated by many scientists
at the time. Thomson developed what
became known as the "plum pudding"
model in 1904. Plum pudding is an
English dessert similar to a blueberry
muffin. In Thomson's plum pudding
model of the atom, the electrons were
embedded in a uniform sphere of
positive charge, like blueberries stuck
into a muffin.