Part 1: Evolution of The Atomic

Model
Early Greek Philosophers

Thousands of years ago Greek philosophers were asking

themselves questions like, “If you take a gold bar and cut it into
smaller and smaller pieces, what is the smallest piece of gold
that you can get?” and “Would the piece of gold ever become so
small that, if you cut it further, it would no longer be gold?”

Smallest piece of matter = atomos

Democritus
Around 400 BCE, without any experimental evidence,
Democritus proposed that atoms are:
•of different sizes
•in constant motion
•separated by empty spaces (the void)
Aristotle
• Around 350 BCE, Aristotle rejected the idea of the atom.
• He supported an earlier theory that all matter is made up
of four basic substances: earth, water, air, and fire.
• Because of Aristotle’s reputation, this theory of the
structure of matter was accepted for almost 2000 years.
John Dalton
• Early 1800s

• Dalton’s Atomic Theory

• All matter is made up of small particles called atoms

• Atoms cannot be created, destroyed, or divided into smaller

particles
• Atoms of different elements are different in mass and size

• Atoms of different elements link together to form compounds (in

definite proportions)
Dalton’s ‘Billiard Ball’ Model

C
C

H
H
C

A small, hard, indestructible sphere

J.J. Thomson
• Late 1800s (1897)

• Discovered the electron using a gas discharge tube

(which applied electric currents to gases at low pressure)

He discovered that very small negatively charged particles were

emitted from the cathode. These particles were attracted to the
positive end of the circuit. Positive charges and negative charges
were known to attract each other, so Thomson concluded that the
particles must be negatively charged. These particles were later
called electrons.
J.J. Thomson
Thomson thus theorized that:

•atoms contain negatively charged electrons

•since atoms are neutral, the rest of the atom is a positively

charged sphere

•negatively charged electrons are evenly distributed

throughout the atom (which resembles a ‘raisin bun,’ with a
positive ‘bun’ containing negative ‘raisins’)
Thomson’s ‘Raisin Bun’ Model
J.J. Thomson’s Cathode Ray Tube
Experiment

http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=2xKZRpAsWL8
 
Ernest Rutherford
• Early 1900s (1907)

• Performed the famous ‘Gold Foil Experiment’ which led to

the discovery of the nucleus and protons
Ernest Rutherford
• He predicted that if positive and negative charges were
uniformly distributed throughout atoms, then tiny positively
charged particles shot at a thin piece of gold foil would
pass through the foil.

• When the experiment was performed, most of the

particles passed through the foil unaffected. Also, a small
number of particles were deflected at very large angles,
as though something very massive but very small was
repelling them.
Rutherford’s Gold Foil Experiment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=wzALbzTdnc8
Rutherford’s Planetary Model
Rutherford proposed the following atomic structure:

 Small, dense, positively-charged nucleus containing

protons and a neutral particle (i.e. neutrons)
containing most of the atom’s mass but occupying a
very small space

 Electrons orbiting around the nucleus

(Note: the neutron was discovered much later by

his student, Chadwick, but Rutherford knew that the
nucleus contained more mass than that of the
protons alone)
James Chadwick
• 1932 - Found a particle (neutrons) that could penetrate
and disintegrate atoms with extraordinary power. Unlike
positively charged protons, these particles have zero
charge – they must be neutral.
He proposed:
• an atom must be an empty sphere with a tiny dense
central nucleus (that contains positively charged protons
and neutral particles called neutrons)
• the mass of the neutron is about the same as a proton
• electrons circle rapidly through empty space around the
nucleus
• a neutral atom has the same number of protons as
electrons
Neils Bohr
• Early 1900’s (1913)
• Studied the hydrogen atom and the light that it produces
when it is excited by thermal energy or electricity
Neils Bohr
Bohr concluded:

•electrons orbit the nucleus much like planets orbit the Sun
•each electron in an orbit has a definite amount of energy
•electrons cannot be located between orbits, but they can
jump between orbits (and release energy in the form of light
when they drop from higher to lower orbits)
•each orbit can hold a certain maximum number of
electrons - 2 in the first orbit, and 8 in the second and third
orbits
Bohr’s Model
Get it?
Bohr-Rutherford Diagrams
• A visual representation of an atom
• Differs for each element

Example:
B-R diagram for Sodium, Na
Quantum Mechanical Model
• In 1926, Erwin Schrödinger proposed the most advanced
and accurate model of the atom, and the one in use today
by physicists and chemists
• In this model, electrons do not exist as tiny points inside
an atom. Electrons exist in specific energy levels, but they
surround the positively charged nucleus in a form
resembling a cloud.
Videos:
Ted. Ed.: History of the Atom
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-2-400-year-search-for-the-
atom-theresa-doud#watch

Ted. Ed.: Just how small is an Atom?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQP4UJhNn0I

Crash Course Chemistry: History of Atomic Theory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thnDxFdkzZs