Atoms & Subatomic Particles

Atoms are present at the most basic level in everything we see

around us. In fact, all living organisms as well as non-living
things are composed of atoms. All matter is made up of atoms.
An atom is defined as the smallest unit of an element that still
has the properties of that element.

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 The Subatomic Particles

Although the discovery made by Dalton and his contemporaries that

atoms were indivisible was later proven to be incorrect, it was initially
believed to be true. It is now known that atoms can be broken down
into smaller units called subatomic particles. So far, three main
types of subatomic particles have been discovered.

https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/Heartland_Community_College/CHEM_120%3A_Fundamentals_of_Chemistry/
02%3A_Atoms_and_Elements/2.03%3A_Atoms_and_Subatomic_Particles
 The Subatomic Particles
1. The Discovery of Electron
oseph John Thomson- known as JJ Thomson
-English physicist who was Nobel Prize-winning
credited for the discovery
of the subatomic particle(electron)

He used this
device
in 1897 known
as
Cathhode Ray
3
Tube
 Joseph John
Thomson
Cathode Rays are glowing beams of light that follow an electrical
discharge inside a volume vacuum.
The tube enclosed in a glass material with a phosphoric opening and it
has terminals with opposite charges on each end.
Cathode-negative terminal
Anode- positive terminal

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Electrons
Electrons were first discovered in 1897. They are subatomic particles that
carry a negative charge and are symbolized using the notation "e−."
Each electron carries a charge of -1.
Despite having an incredibly small mass, they occupy the majority of an
atom's volume.
Initially, scientists believed that electrons were tiny particles that
were randomly dispersed across a considerable volume, just like
raindrops in rain clouds. However, this concept of an "electron cloud" was
later proven to be inaccurate.
Electrons play a vital role in determining how elements interact or
bond with one another. A specific subset of electrons, called valence
electrons, is solely responsible for this process.
Protons

Protons were first discovered in 1919 and are subatomic particles with a +1
charge, which are represented using the notation "p+." Protons are about
2,000 times more massive than electrons, similar to how a bowling ball is
much heavier than a penny.
However, despite their large mass, protons only occupy a small
percentage of an atom's volume. Protons are found in the nucleus, which is
the densely packed space at the center of an atom. The nucleus has a
positive charge, which attracts negatively charged electrons, keeping them
bound within the atom. This is why electrons remain anchored within
atoms, following the adage "opposites attract."
The final subatomic particle was not discovered until 1932.
In order to account for the neutral charge of an atom as a whole, the
number of positively charged protons and negatively charged electrons
found within an atom must be equal. Therefore, any remaining
subatomic particles must be uncharged, to not upset this established
charge balance.
Indeed, neutrons, which were named as a result of their neutral
charge, do not possess any electrical properties. Consequently, these
subatomic particles, which are symbolized using the notation "n0,"
were incredibly difficult to detect.
Neutrons are also located in the nucleus of an atom, and the mass of a
neutron was found to be just slightly greater than the mass of a proton.
The atomic number of an element refers to the number of protons present
within an atom of that element. This value is unique to each element,
which means that the identity of an element is solely determined by the
number of protons it contains.
Thomson’s experiment resulted in the following conclusions:
1.A cathode ray tube consists of negatively- charged
particles(electrons)
2.The particles inside the cathode ray tube are 1,000 times
smaller than a Hydrogen atom
3.Whatever type of metal is used yields the same result

George Johnstone Stoney- Irish physicist,

- known to have coined the particles’s name in 1891.
- He suggested the term”electron” as unit of electric

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1909- Robert Millikan and Harvey Fletcher performed an experiment in
which they successfully identified the value of an electron’s charge.
The Oil-drop Experiment Apparatus

-The apparatus used in Millikan's

Oil Drop Experiment consisted of
two metal plates held apart by an
insulated rod.
-The plates had four holes, three
of which allowed light to pass
through and the fourth provided
a viewing window for the
microscope.
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Robert Millikan - American Physicist
- Oil-drop experiment was his first major scientific
breakthrough

Harvey Fletcher – American Physicist

- made plenty of contribution to the field of acoustics
and atomic physics
- colleague of Millikan
• Protons have a positive charge and are located inside the
nucleus. They have a mass of 1 atomic mass unit (amu).

• Neutrons have no charge and are also located inside the

nucleus. They also have a mass of 1 amu.

• Electrons have a negative charge and are found outside the

nucleus. Their mass is so small that it's considered
negligible..

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 2. The Discovery of the Nucleus and the Proton

Ernest Rutherford- physicist from the New Zealand

- father of Nuclear Physicist
- famous on his work on radioactivity, studying the nat
of alpha and beta rays.
- he performed the gold foil experiment
- He and his team( Hans Gieger and Ernest Marsden)
discovered the atoms core known as Nucleus and
the second subatomic particle known as Proton in 1911.
The Gold Foil Experiment has
- thin gold foil, an alpha particle positively charge, radioactive particle
contained inside a small lead box
- circular fluorescent screen with a narrow opening
Based on the experiment, Rutherford’s team concluded the following:

1. The atom consist of a large empty space that causes more alpha
particles to go straight through the foil in the experiment.
2. The hard material inside the atom must be made up of positively
charged particles becaused it has repelled the alpha particles.
3. An atom consists of a very small but very dense region which causes
the alpha particles to bounce back.

Rutherford concluded that the atom is composed of a negagtively-

charged electron and a hard, dense nucleus with positively- charged
particles.
3. The Discovery of Neutron

James Chadwick- English physicist, often credited for the discovery of

the subatomic particle(Neutron)
- he was Rutherford student
- he observed that the proton might not be the
only particle contained within
the nucleus
- They noticed that the atomic mass
always turned out greater than the
atomic number, which is equivalent to
the number of protons in an atom.

Neutron- neutral charge

Walther Bothe and Herbert Becker
- German physicists, experimented on radioactivity in
1930 using Beryllium, Lithium, and Boron
and an alpha particle from
a polonium source.
-When beryllium shot with alpha rays,it released a
neutral radiation that could penetrate the element lead
- They suspected that it was a gamma rays

Frederic and Irene Joliot-Curie- French physicists

- they conducted the same experiment but added a piece
of paraffin wax in front of the
beryllium, the paraffin ejected high
speed protons when shot with alpha rays and they
assumed
1932- James Chadwick performed the same experiment using Nitrogen,
Oxygen, Boron and Argon
- He observed that none of the energy released matched
that of gamma rays or any electromagnetic radiation
- It’s neutral particles detected.
Through the experiment,
Chadwick and fellow scientists concluded the following:
1. The energy released by the elements in the experiment could not
be gamma rays because these were too light to kick protons out
2. After studying the experiments by other physicists, he was convinced
that the radiation released was a neutral particle
3. The mass of the neutral particle was almost the same as that of
the proton.
4. The neutral particle were indeed Rutherford’s neutrons
Subatomic Particles
Have you ever wondered what everything around you is made of?
-Everything around us is made up of tiny particles called atoms.
What is an atom?
- The word "atom" is derived from the Greek word, “atomos” or indivisible.
Atom is the smallest unit of matter that retains the identity of the
substance. Atom is thought to be the smallest particle of a given element.
 Atoms in their stable state are neutral;
 its number of protons and electrons are equal.
 The mass of an atom is solely due to the mass of the proton and
neutron.
 The protons and neutrons are referred to as nucleons.
 The nucleons which are tightly packed together, form the nucleus within
the center of the atom.
 Thus, much of the mass of an atom is concentrated at the nucleus
An atom is spherical in shape.
It has three subatomic particles namely, the electrons, protons, and
neutrons.
A proton possesses a positive charge.
On the other hand, an electron is negatively charged while a neutron is
said to be neutral.
The lightest among the subatomic particles is the electron while the
heaviest is the neutron.
Electrons can be found outside the nucleus while protons and neutrons
can be found inside the nucleus.
The nucleus is in the center part of the atom.
The charge of the nucleus is positive
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