ATOMS FROM THE EYES

OF PHILOSOPHERS
 According to the fundamental Greek theory of
matter originated by the philosopher Empedocles
there were four element that make up matter.

WATER, AIR, FIRE AND EARTH

• Empedocles asserted that the properties of materials are

imparted by the different proportions of the four elements
that comprises them.
For example;
Dryness and hardness of stone are attributed to its high
composition of the elements earth.
 Aristotle supported the idea of Empedocles and added
the fifth elements, which he called ether.
 Aristotle ideas greatly influenced the Alchemists
during 300BC until the end of seventeenth century.
 Alchemy-is an ancient philosophical and
protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced
in china, india and muslim world and Europe.
Wikipedia.org.
A TIMELINE ON THE BRIEF HISTORY ON MATTER AND ATOMS

YEAR EVENT

450 BC Empedocles asserted that all things are composed of

four primal elements; earth, air, fire and water

400 BC Democritus proposed that all matter is made up of very

small particles called atoms, which cannot be divided
into smaller units.
380-320 BC Aristotle proposed that all matter was continuous and
can be further divided infinitely into smaller pieces.

1799 Joseph Proust proposed the law of definite

proportions.

1808 John Joseph Dalton formulated the atomic theory and

proposed the law of multiple proportions

1869 Dmitry Mendeleev arranged the known elements in a

periodic table based on their atomic mass.
A TIMELINE ON THE BRIEF HISTORY ON MATTER AND ATOMS

YEAR EVENT

1890 Antoine Becquerel and Marie Curie observed that

radioactivity causes some atoms to break down
spontaneously.

1895 Wilhelm Rontgen discovered x-ray

1897 John Joseph Thompson discovered electrons

1904 John Joseph Thompson suggested the plum pudding

model of the atom (negative electrons dispersed in a
positive structure)
1908-1917 Robert Millikan found that the charge of an electron is
equal to -1.60022x10¯¯¹⁹

1910-1911 Ernest Rutherford observed that atoms are mostly

empty space.
A TIMELINE ON THE BRIEF HISTORY ON MATTER AND ATOMS

YEAR EVENT

1913 Niels Bohr proposed an atomic model that shows

electrons move in concentric orbits around the
nucleus.

Henry Gwyn Jeffreys Moseley used x-ray spectra to

study atomic structure.

1919 Ernest Rutherford discovered protons.

1932 James Chadwick discovered neutrons.

STRUCTURE OF AN ATOM
 STRUCTURE OF AN ATOM
ATOM is defined as the tiniest particle of an
element that retains the chemical properties
of that element. All atoms are made up of the
nucleus and electrons. At the center of an
atom is the nucleus, which is composed of
protons and neutrons. These two units are
collectively called nucleons. The nucleus is
orbited by the atom’s electron.