Historical Development of Atomic

Theory

The idea of the atom has been around for thousands

of years. However, the explanations of what exactly
atoms are and their structure has modified over time
as new scientific discoveries were made.

In 1803, John Dalton drew upon the Ancient Greek

idea of atoms (the word ‘atom’ comes from the
Greek ‘atomos’ meaning indivisible) to develop the
solid sphere model. His theory stated that atoms are
indivisible, those of a given element are identical,
and compounds are combinations of different types
of atoms.

In 1904, J.J. Thomson discovered the electrons and its

negative charge in atoms, for which he won a Nobel Prize.
He subsequently produced the plum pudding model. It
shows the atom composed of electrons embedded
throughout a spherical cloud of positive charge.

In 1911, Ernest Rutherford fired positively charged alpha particles at a thin

sheet of gold foil. Most passed through with little deflection, but some
deflected at large angles. This was only possible if the atom was mostly
empty space, with the positive charge concentrated in the centre.
He discovered the nucleus and developed the nuclear
model. This model has a central positive nucleus
surrounded by a large space occupied by negative
electrons.

In 1913, Niels Bohr modified Rutherford’s model

of the atom to develop the planetary model (also
known as the Bohr model). He proposed that
electrons occupied shells or energy levels around
the nucleus. Also, his model proposed that
electrons could move from one energy level to
another.

In 1926, Erwin Schrödinger stated that electrons

do not move in set paths around the nucleus, but
in waves. It is impossible to know the exact
location of the electrons; instead we have ‘clouds
of probability’ called orbitals, in which we are
more likely to find an electron. He developed the
quantum model which states that the nucleus is
surrounded by electron ‘cloud’ orbitals. This
model is the currently accepted model of the
atom.

In 1932, James Chadwick discovered the neutron. He stated that the nucleus
was not just a mass of positive charge, but a cluster of positively charged
protons and neutrally charged neutrons. He modified the quantum model to
include neutrons.