INTRODUCTION

 Atomic structure is the structure of an atom that consists of a nucleus at the

center containing neutrons and protons, while electrons are revolving around
the nucleus. As atoms are made up of a very tiny, positively charged nucleus
that is surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged electrons.

 The earliest concept of atoms was given by Indian philosopher Maharshi

Kanad who proposed that matter is made up of very small indestructible
particles called ‘Parmanu’. A Greek philosopher named Democritus also
initially claimed that matter is formed of atoms, and is credited with
developing the concepts of atomic structure and quantum mechanics. Later
in the 1800s, John Dalton a British Scientist put out the first atomic structure
scientific theory.

WHAT IS ATOMIC STRUCTURE?

 The composition of an element’s nucleus and how its electrons are arranged
around it are referred to as the element’s atomic structure. Protons, electrons,
and neutrons comprise the majority of the atomic structure of matter

The atom’s nucleus, which is made up of protons and neutrons, is surrounded by

the atom’s own electrons. The total number of protons in an element’s nucleus is
expressed by the element’s atomic number. Protons and electrons are equal in
number in neutral atoms. But atoms can receive or lose electrons to make them
more stable, and the resulting charged object is known as an ion. Because different
elements’ atoms contain varying numbers of protons and electrons, their atomic
structures are also different. This explains why different elements have unique
properties.

The atomic model which we study today was not given at one time. Several
attempts were made by scientists and later improved leading to the current atomic
model. Let’s learn about different atomic models which led to the evolution of the
present model
ATOMIC MODELS
Many scientists used atomic models to understand the structure of the atom in the
early centuries. Each of these models had advantages and disadvantages of its own
and played a significant role in the development of the modern atomic model.
Scientists like John Dalton, J.J. Thomson, Ernest Rutherford, and Niels Bohr made
the most noteworthy contributions to science.
This section of the article discusses the following theories regarding atomic
structure:
1. Dalton’s Atomic Theory
2. Thomson’s Atomic Model
3. Rutherford’s Atomic Model
4. Bohr’s Atomic Model
5. Quantum Mechanical Model

DALTON’S ATOMIC THEORY

ABOUT DALTON :

John Dalton (5 or 6 September 1766 – 27 July 1844) was an English chemist ,

physicst and meteorologist. He is the best known for introducing the atomic theory
into chemistry and for his research into colour blindness which he had . Colour
blindness is known as Daltonism in several language, being named after him .
John Dalton, a British Chemist proposed that every matter is made up of atoms.
These atoms are indivisible and indestructible i.e. they can’t be broken down into
smaller particles. He also suggested that all atoms of a particular matter are the
same, but atoms of different elements differ in size and mass. This means atoms of
each element are unique.
According to Dalton’s atomic theory, Chemical reactions occur at atomic level and
involve the rearrangements of atoms in order to form the products. According to
the postulates proposed in his theory, atomic structure is made up of atoms and
they are the smallest particles responsible for chemical reactions to occur.

POSTULATES OF DALTON’S ATOMIC THEORY

 Every matter that exists is made of atoms.

 Atoms are indivisible.
 A particular element has only one type of atom in it.
 Atoms of different elements differ in size and mass.
 An atom has a constant mass that varies for every element.
 During a chemical reaction, atoms undergo rearrangement.
 Atoms can neither be created nor destroyed but can only be transformed from
one form to another.
Dalton’s atomic theory was able to explain the Laws of chemical reactions
successfully, named the Law of conservation of mass, Law of constant properties,
Law of multiple proportions, and Law of reciprocal proportions.

DEMERITS OF DALTON’S ATOMIC THEORY

 This theory was not able to explain the existence of isotopes and isobars.

 No appropriate explanation was provided regarding the structure of atoms.

 Later the atoms were found to be divisible, and Dalton’s claim of atoms being
indivisible was proved to be wrong.
The discovery of constituting particles of atoms led to a better understanding of
chemicals, these constituting particles are called subatomic particles.
JJ THOMSON’S ATOMIC MODEL
ABOUT JJ THOMSON

Sir Joseph John Thomson was also an English chemist famous for his discovery of
electrons known as Thomson’s Atomic Model, for which he also got the Nobel
Prize. He conducted a cathode ray experiment to invent electrons. He proposed that
atoms are like a sphere of positive charge with negative charge embedded in them.
He named this atomic model as Plum Pudding Model.

CATHODE RAY EXPERIMENT

In this experiment, a glass tube with two openings is taken. One opening is for the
vacuum pump and the other is for intake through which the gas to be filled in the
tube is pushed in. Using the vacuum pump a partial vacuum pump is maintained
inside the glass chamber. In simple words, a cathode and anode are placed inside
the glass tube. The anode is perforated and a photosensitive foil made up of Zinc
Sulfide is placed behind it. When high voltage is applied a ray originates from the
cathode and moves towards the anode making a spot on Zinc Sulfide foil.
OBSERVATIONS OF CATHODE RAY EXPERIMENT

The following observations were made when the current was allowed to flow
between the cathode and anode.
 When the high voltage power is connected and switched ON, rays were
transmitted from the cathode towards the anode. Fluorescent spots were
observed on the ZnS screen and it confirmed the fact the rays were being
transmitted. These rays were given the name Cathode Rays.
 When an external electric field was projected on the tube, the rays got deviated
toward the positive electrode. But in the absence of the electric field, the rays
got back in a straight line.
 But when rotor blades were fixed in the path of the cathode rays, the rays
seemed to rotate. This proved that cathode rays were made of particles that had
some mass in them.
 Using all the evidence, Thomson reached the conclusion that cathode rays are
composed of negatively charged particles called electrons.
 By applying electric and magnetic fields on the cathode ray, the charge-to-mass
ratio (e/m) was found. The e/m for electrons came out to be 17588 × 10 11 e/bg
DISCOVERY OF ELECTRON

After performing the Cathode Ray Experiment, JJ Thomson explained that the rays
that were originating from Cathode and moving towards Anode consists of
negatively charged particles called Electron. He further stated that the presence of
these negatively charged particles is not limited to specific matters but will be
present in every matter irrespective of mass and property. The discovery of the
Electron was done in 1897.
Mullikin did an oil-drop experiment to find the charge of the electron using the
e/m ratio. He found the charge of the electron = 1.6 x 10 -16 C and the Mass of the
Electron = 9.1093 × 10-31 kg.

PLUM PUDDING MODEL

After Thomson discovered Electron he attempted to describe the structure of the

atom. He postulated that an atom is a positively charged sphere in which
negatively charged electrons were embedded. The popular name given to this
model is the “plum pudding model” because it can be observed as a plum pudding
dish where the positively charged atom signifies the pudding and the plum pieces
stand for the electrons. Plum Pudding Model is also sometimes referred to as the
Watermelon Model where the red edible part of a watermelon is a sphere of
positive charge while the seeds of the watermelon are referred to as negatively
charged electrons.

DRAWBACKS OF THOMSON’S ATOMIC MODEL

 The main drawback of Thomson’s model is that this model is not clear about
the stability of an atom.
 This model could not adjust to other subatomic particles discovered in the
future.

RUTHERFORD ATOMIC MODEL

ABOUT ERNST RUTHERFORD
Rutherford who was a student of J. J. Thomson discovered Nucleus which
contained protons and neutrons inside it. This discovery made huge changes to the
atomic structure. The observations made by Thomson in his experiment were used
by Rutherford to propose his theory for atomic structure through an experiment
called Rutherford’s Alpha Ray Scattering Experiment.

ALPHA RAY SCATTERING EXPERIMENT

Rutherford used the radioactivity phenomenon in conducting his experiment. He

used the radioactive material radium bromide (RaBr)(Particularly Bismuth Bi
which is the isotope of radium). RaBr emits α particles which is a form of
radiation. A thin gold metal sheet was put up in the setup. Then the alpha ‘α’
particles were bombarded on this sheet. The α particle has a charge of +2. To
observe the deflection of the particles a screen of Zinc Sulfide (ZnS) was used and
placed behind the Gold foil. Rutherford further developed a detector in order to
count the number of radioactive particles. Initially, he recorded the count rate of
RaBr as he kept a count of α particles emitted per minute.
OBSERVATION OF ALPHA RAY SCATTERING EXPERIMENT

Following observations were made by Rutherford and conclusions were drawn:

 Most of the α particles passed through thin sheets without any deviation. This
means most of the atom’s space is empty.
 Only about 0.14% of the incident α particle scatter by more than 1 degree and 1
in 8000 deflect by more than 90 degree
 Another observation made was that some of the α particles deflected a bit in
every direction. This leads to the conclusion that the positive charge is not
distributed uniformly throughout the atom.
 1 in 12000 particles get deflected back along the path that they were traveling
on. This happened because of charges repelling each other. Seeing this
Rutherford concluded that the positive charge in an atom exists in a very small
volume.
 Not only the positively charged particles but a lot of mass is also concentrated
in a very small volume. Rutherford named this region as Nucleus.
 Rutherford also came up with the argument that electrons are present in orbits
around the orbits, much like the planets in the solar system. Electrons are
negatively charged and they revolve around the nucleus.
 The electrons and nucleus are held by the electrostatic force of attraction
because they are negatively and positively charged respectively.
CONCLUSION OF RUTHERFORD’S MODEL

Drawing conclusions from all the above observations, Rutherford proposed his
Atomic structure which had the following properties –
 The nucleus lies at the center of the atom, and the maximum of the charge and
mass is concentrated there only.
 Atoms are spherical in nature.
 Electrons revolve around the nucleus in a circular orbit.

DISCOVERY OF NUCLEUS

In Gold Foil Alpha Particle Experiment, Rutherford observed that most of the
spaces inside an atom are vacant and there is a small dense region located at the
center inside the atom. He termed this region as Nucleus and said that this Nucleus
is positively charged and most of the masses of the atom are concentrated in
Nucleus only.
LIMITATIONS OF RUTHERFORD ATOMIC MODEL

Just like other atomic models, Rutherford’s model also had many shortcomings.
 Since electrons revolve in a circular orbit around the nucleus in an atom it is an
accelerated motion. As per Electromagnetic Theory when a charged particle is
in accelerated motion it loses energy. Hence, electrons will spend a lot of
energy and eventually, they will lose the entire energy and the atom will
collapse. This raises serious questions about the stability of the atom.
 Rutherford didn’t say anything about the position of electrons whether all
electrons be in the same or different orbits and the reason behind it.
 If the electrons are revolving continuously around the nucleus, then the
spectrum that they emit should be a continuous spectrum, but what we observe
is a line spectrum.

Bohr’s Atomic Model

ABOUT NILES BOHR

Niels Henrick David Bohr (1885-1962) Danish physicist who explained the
spectrum of the hydrogen atom based on quantum ideas. He gave a theory of
nuclear fission based on the liquid – drop model of nucleus . Bohr contributed to
the clarification of the conceptual problem in quantum mechanics, in particular by
proposing the complementary principle

Neils Bohr, a student of Rutherford proposed his model in 1915 to address the
limitation of Rutherford’s Atomic Model. It is the most widely used atomic model
and is based on Planck’s theory of quantization. It explains that electrons always
move in fixed orbitals only, and they are not present everywhere in the atom. Bohr
also explained that each orbit has a fixed energy level. An orbit is also called an
Energy Shell. Rutherford only explained the nucleus of the atom while Bohr made
changes to that model and added electrons and energy levels.
As per Bohr’s model, inside an atom, there is a small nucleus that is positively
charged and is surrounded by negative electrons which move around in orbits
which has specific energy level. To revolve in a particular orbit, electrons must
possess energy equal to the energy level of the shell. Bohr found out that the larger
the distance of an electron from the nucleus, the larger its energy which means the
orbits near the nucleus has smaller energy and the shell farthest from the nucleus
has larger energy.
Bohr’s model consists of a small nucleus (positively charged) surrounded by
negative electrons moving around the nucleus in orbits. Bohr found that an electron
located away from the nucleus has more energy, and the electron which is closer to
nucleus has less energy

POSTULATES OF BOHR’S ATOMIC MODEL

 Inside atoms, electrons are present in discrete orbits called “stationary orbits”.
 Quantum numbers are used to represent the energy levels of these shells.
 When an electron stays in its own orbit, no absorption or emission of energy
takes place.
 Electrons revolve in these stationary orbits only.
 The energy of the stationary orbits is quantized

 The energy level are represented by a integer (n=1,2,3) known as the quantum
number. The range of the quantum number starts from nucleus side with n=1
having the lowest energy level . the orbits n=1,2,3,4,….. are assigned as
K,L,M,N,.. shell and when an electron attains the lowest energy , it is said to be
in ground state
 The electrons in an atom moves from a lower energy level to a higher energy
level by gaining the required energy and an electron moves from a higher
energy level to lower energy level by losing energy

LIMITATIONS OF BOHR’S ATOMIC MODEL

 It works only for single-electron species such as H, He+, Li2+, and Be3+
 When a more accurate spectrometer was used to observe the emission spectrum
of hydrogen, each line spectrum was seen to be a combination of multiple
smaller discrete lines.
 Bohr’s theory was unable to explain Stark and Zeeman’s effects.

BOHR’S THEORY
Bohr combined a classical and early quantum concept and gave his theory in the
form of three postulates. These are
1. First postulate:
It was that an electron in an atom could revolve in certain stable orbits
without the emission of radiant energy contrary to the predictions of
electromagnetic theory. According to this postulate, each atom has certain
definite stable states in which can exist, and each possible state has definite
total energy. These art called the stationary states of the atom.

2. Second postulate:
It defines these stable orbits. This postulate states that the electron revolves
around the nucleus only in those orbits for which the angular momentum is
some integral multiple of h/2 π where h is the Planck's constant (= 6.6 x
10^-34 J s). Thus the angular momentum (L) of the orbiting electron is
quantised. That is,
L = nh / 2 π

3. Third postulate:
It states that an electron might make a transition from one of its specified
non-radiating orbits to another of lower energy. When it does so, a photon is
emitted having energy equal to the energy difference between the initial and
final states. The frequency of the emitted photon is then given by,
hv = E(initial) - E(final)
QUANTUM MECHANICAL MODEL OF ATOM
Quantum Mechanics is the branch of physics that deals with the motion and
kinematics of microscopic objects. Since atoms are of below microscopic size
and the limitations of Bohr’s Atomic Model motivated the scientists to give a
more general and accurate atomic model based on Quantum Theory.

DUAL BEHAVIOUR OF MATTER

Dual Behaviour of Matter was proposed by French physicist de-Broglie. He

stated that every matter irrespective of its size exhibits both wave-like properties
and particle-like properties. He meant to say that just like a photon has both
wavelength and momentum similarly an electron will have both wavelength(λ)
and momentum(p). He called these waves Matter Waves. The relation between
wavelength and momentum is given by
λ = h/p
where,
 λ is Wavelength
 p is Momentum
 h is Planck’s Constant

DE BROGLIE'S JUSTIFICATION OF BOHR'S ASSUMPTION

De Broglie came up with an explanation for why the angular momentum might be
quantized in the manner Bohr assumed it was. De Broglie realized that if you use
the wavelength associated with the electron, and assume that an integral number of
wavelengths must fit in the circumference of an orbit, you get the same quantized
angular momenta that Bohr did.

The circumference of the circular orbit must be an integral numberof wavelengths:

2πr = nλ
= nh/p (λ=ph)

The momentum, p, is simply mv as long as we're talking about non-relativistic

speeds, so this becomes:
2πr = nh/mv

Rearranging this a little gives the Bohr relationship:

Lr = mvr = nh/2π

QUANTUM NUMBER
To describe the location of an electron inside an atom we need a set of 4 numbers
known as Quantum Numbers. These Quantum Number helps in distinguishing
different orbitals which contain electron. Orbitals that have a smaller number mean
they are closer to the nucleus, have a smaller size, and have a larger probability of
finding an electron. The four types of Quantum Numbers are listed below:

 Principal Quantum Number

 Azimuthal Quantum Number
 Magnetic Quantum Number
 Spin Quantum Number

PRINCIPAL QUANTUM NUMBER (N)

It is represented by ‘n’. It gives the idea of a shell in which an electron is present

and also about its energy. A lower value of ‘n’ means the shell is closer to the
nucleus and has lower energy. It is given by n = 1,2,3…

n Shell

1 K

2 L

3 M
 n Shell

4 N

AZIMUTHAL QUANTUM NUMBER (L)

It is represented by ‘l’. It gives an idea of the subshell and 3D shape of the orbital.
The subshells are given as s, p, d, and f. The value assigned to subshells are 0 = s,
1 = p, 2 = d, 3 = f. A shell contains 0 to n-1 subshell. For Example, the third shell
i.e. n = 3 will have 0 to (3-1) subshells i.e. 0 to 2 subshells which include 0,1 and 2.

n l Subshell Notation

1 0 1s

2 0 2s

2 1 2p

3 0 3s

3 1 3p

3 2 3d

MAGNETIC QUANTUM NUMBER (ML)

It is represented by ml. It gives an idea of the orientation of orbital in space with

respect to coordinate axes. A subshell contains -l to l orbitals. For Example,
subshell p contains -1 to 1 orbital i.e. -1, 0, 1, a total of three orbitals oriented
along different coordinate axes and coordinate planes.
SPIN QUANTUM NUMBER(MS)

It is represented by ms. It gives an idea about the spinning or orientation of

electrons. It takes the value of +1/2 or -1/2. If ms is +1/2 it means the electron is
rotating clockwise and is represented as ⇡ while if ms is -1/2 it means the electron
is rotating anticlockwise and is represented as ⇣.
As of now, we have learned all the atomic models, now we will look at the
properties of all the subatomic particles.

SUBATOMIC PARTICLES
The subatomic particles are the particles that are present inside the atom, There are
three subatomic particles that are,
 Protons
 Neutrons
 Electrons

1. PROTONS

 Protons have a positive charge.

 This charge is 1e, which is approximately 1.602 × 10-19
 Mass of a proton is approximately 1.672 × 10-24
 Protons are over 1800 times heavier than electrons.
 Total number of protons in the atoms of an element and the atomic
number of the element is always equal.

2. NEUTRON

 Mass of a neutron is almost similar to that of a proton i.e. 1.674 × 10-24

 Neutrons are always electrically neutral particles and do not carry any
charge.
 Isotopes of an element have the same number of protons but a different
number of protons in their respective nuclei.

3. ELECTRON
  Charge of an electron is -1e, which is approximately -1.602 × 10-19
 Mass of an electron is approximately 9.1 × 10-31.
 Mass of an electron is almost negligible as compared to the mass of an
atom, so an electron’s mass is ignored while calculating the mass of an
atom.

ATOMIC STRUCTURE OF ISOTOPES

The isotopes of an atom have the same atomic number which means that the
number of protons are same. Also, their chemical properties are the same because
their electronic configuration is the same. The difference in mass number arises
due to the difference in number of neutrons present inside the nucleus. Hence, the
atomic structure of isotopes comprises of the same number of electrons and
protons but different number of neutrons. We can understand this with the
example of isotopes of hydrogen illustrated below:
To describe the structure of an isotope, the element’s symbol is used along with
the atomic number and the mass number of the isotope. To give an example,
Hydrogen has 3 isotopes named protium, deuterium, and tritium. The atomic
configuration of three isotopes of hydrogen is tabulated below :

Isotopes of Atomic Mass No. of No. of No. of

Hydrogen Number Number Electrons Protons Neutrons

Protium 1 1 1 1 0

Deuterium 1 2 1 1 1

Tritium 1 3 1 1 2
The stability of isotopes is different. The half-lives are also different. But they
generally have similar chemical behavior because they have the same electronic
structures. The pictorial representation of isotopes of hydrogen can be seen
below:

SUMMARY OF ATOMIC STRUCTURE

 Atom: The defining structure and basic units of matter of an element are called
atoms. The term “atom” came from a Greek word that means indivisible
because earlier atom was thought to be the smallest things in the universe that
could not be divided

 Atomic Structure: The structure of an atom comprising a nucleus, in which the

protons and neutrons are present. The negatively charged particles called
electrons revolve around the center of the nucleus.

 Nucleus: A collection of particles called protons and neutrons is called

Nucleus. Protons are positively charged and neutrons, are electrically neutral.
Protons and neutrons are made up of particles called quarks. The chemical
 element of an atom is determined by the number of protons, or the atomic
number, Z, of the nucleus.

 Proton: Positively charged particles found within atomic nuclei are given the
name Proton. Rutherford discovered the proton in his famous cathode ray
experiment that was conducted between 1911 and 1919. Protons are about
99.86% as massive as neutrons. The number of protons in an atom is unique for
each element

 Electron: Electrons are very tiny compared to protons and neutrons, about
1800 times smaller than either a proton or a neutron. Electrons are just 0.054%
as massive as neutrons. Electrons were discovered in 1897 by Joseph John (J.J.)
Thomson, a British physicist. Electrons have a negative charge and are
electrically attracted to the positively charged protons

 Neutron: Rutherford theorized the neutron’s existence in 1920 and was later
discovered by Chadwick in 1932. Neutrons were found during experiments
where atoms were shot at a thin sheet of beryllium. Subatomic particles with no
charge were released – and were named neutrons. Neutrons are uncharged
particles found within all atomic nuclei

 Isotopes: Members of the same family of an element that all have the same
number of protons but different numbers of neutrons are named isotopes. The
number of protons in a nucleus determines the element’s atomic number on the
Periodic Table. All the isotopes have unique properties, just like all family
members have their own qualities.
BIBILOGRAPHY
www.google.com

http://byjus.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/

http://www.geeksforgeeks.org/

http://www.britannica.com/

NCERT class 12 Physics