ATOM AND ITS STRUCTURE

TOPIC: Atom and its history

SLOs: - define concept of atomos by Democritus;
- describe the main features of Dalton’s atomic theory;
- describe Rutherford’s experiment leading to the discovery
of atomic nucleus;
CONTRIBUTION OF SCIENTISTS IN DEVELOPMENT OF
ATOMIC STRUCTURE:
- DEMOCRITUS: Suggested that matter is composed of tiny indivisible particles
called atoms. The name atom was derived from the Latin word ‘ Atomos ’ meaning

indivisible.
- DALTON’S ATOMIC THEORY:
In the beginning of 19th century John Dalton put forward atomic theory.
Following are the main postulates of Dalton’s atomic theory.
1. All matter is made up of atoms, atom is an indivisible , indestructible , hard
dense sphere.
2. All atoms of a given element are identical in mass and properties.
3. Compounds are formed by a combination of two or more different kinds of
atoms.
- In 1886 Goldstein discovered positively charged particles in an atom called
protons.
PLUM-PUDDING MODEL:
In 1879 J.J Thomson found electrons in an atom and after that he
put forth his “Plum pudding” theory. He postulated that atoms were
solid structures of positively charge with tiny negative particles
stuck inside. It is like plums in the pudding.
 RUTHERFORD’S ATOMIC MODEL:
Rutherford performed ‘Gold Foil’ experiment to
understand how negative and positive charges could
coexist in an atom. He proved that plum pudding model
was not correct.
CONCLUSIONS OF RUTHERFORD’S ATOMIC
MODEL:
Keeping in view the experiment, Rutherford proposed planetary
model for an atom and concluded the following results.
1. Since majority of alpha particles passed through the foil undeflected ,
most of the space occupied by the atom must be empty.
2.The deflection of few alpha particles through angles greater than 90
shows that these particles are deflected by electrostatic repulsion between
the positively charged alpha particles and the positively charged part of
nucleus.
3. Massive alpha particles are not deflected by electrons.
 The model described that atom has a tiny,
dense, positively charged core called a
nucleus, in which nearly all the mass is
concentrated, around which the light, negative
constituents, called electrons, circulate at some
distance, much like planets revolving around
the Sun.