RADIOACTIVITY: MODELS OF THE ATOM

By the end of this presentation you should be

able to……
 Describe simply the Thomson Plum Pudding and
the Rutherford-Bohr models of the atom.
 Explain how the observations made in the
Rutherford scattering experiment exposed
flaws in the Plum Pudding model and led to the
development of the Rutherford-Bohr model
(which is still used today).
•The Thomson Plum Pudding Model

•The Rutherford – Bohr Model

It was first thought that protons and electrons were all mixed
up. Very much like a plum pudding. The negative electrons
were like the plums, randomly scattered in a positive “dough”
of protons.

Positive protons surround the

electrons, like the dough of the
pudding

Negative electrons (like the plums)

Note the absence of neutrons, they were not yet discovered!
Scientists Geiger and Marsden carried out experiments
The entire
by “shooting” positively charged particles at a thin
experiment is
sheet of gold foil.
carried out in an
evacuated Thin sheet of
container so that
gold foil
there is nothing
(other than the
gold foil) to Counter to
interfere with the detect alpha
alpha particles particles. The
counter can
move around
Source of alpha the grey table
particles, enclosed to different
in a lead box. positions
 Useful web site.
A smaller
number of
particles were
They counted
counted when
the largest
To their
thenumber
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was inwhen
particles this
they actually
found that theposition.
detector
some of the was in line
alpha particles with the alpha
came back source.
very nearly in Then they
the same moved the
direction! detector.
The actual experiment involves using a screen that glows,
in order to detect the alpha particles after they pass
through the foil.

The alpha particles are continuously, but randomly emitted

from the radioactive source. The particles passed through
the gold foil and hit the screen which was coated with zinc
sulphide. The screen glowed with a tiny bright spot
wherever an alpha particle hit it.
Some of the particles were slightly deflected. This
could be explained if we said that they could be
attracted to electrons that they passed close to.
 The Plum Pudding Model could not explain all the other
observations!!
1. Some were deflected by large angles and a few were sent
back in the original direction! Yet in this model, there was
no area where the charge was concentrated enough to
produce large forces that would explain large deflections.

2. Most went straight through, if the atom was filled with

protons and electrons, shouldn’t most (if not all) of the
positive alpha particles be deflected by a small amount?

3. No holes were left! (!!!???)

Throw out the old model and introduce a new one that
will explain all the observations of the experiment!
•The new model should be mainly space. This would
explain how the majority of the positive alpha particles can
go straight through, undeflected.
•The new model should have a large positive core. This
would then exert large forces of repulsion on the alpha
particles depending on how close the particle came to the
nucleus.
•The electrons should be on the outside, around the
nucleus.
•The nucleus is tiny in comparison to the entire atom, this is
why only a few alpha particles are sent straight back.
These must have been projected straight toward the tiny
positive core.
If the alpha particle (+) passes very far from the nucleus (also +), it
will go straight through. The closer it gets to the nucleus, the
greater the force of repulsion from the nucleus, and the more it will
be pushed away. On the rare occasion that the alpha particle
comes straight towards the tiny nucleus, a large repulsive force
will push it straight back.

+
 The animation below shows the variety of paths an alpha
particle may follow, depending on how close it comes to the
nucleus. The force of repulsion between the positive nucleus
and the positive alpha particle increases the closer they get.

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