ATOMS

Plum pudding model of the atom

In 1897, the experiments on electric discharge through gases carried out by the English physicist J. J.
Thomson (1856 – 1940) revealed that atoms of different elements contain negatively charged constituents
(electrons) that are identical for all atoms. However, atoms on a whole are electrically neutral. Therefore, an
atom must also contain some positive charge to neutralise the negative charge of the electrons.
According to this model, the positive charge of the atom is uniformly distributed throughout the
volume of the atom and the negatively charged electrons are embedded in it like seeds in a watermelon.
ALPHA-PARTICLE SCATTERING AND RUTHERFORD’S
NUCLEAR MODEL OF ATOM

H. Geiger and E. Marsden directed a

beam of 5.5 MeV  particles emitted from a
Bi radioactive source at a thin metal
𝟐𝟏𝟒
𝟖𝟑𝑩𝒊foil made of gold. The scattered alpha-
particles were observed through a rotatable
detector consisting of zinc sulphide screen
and a microscope. The scattered alpha
particles on striking the screen produced
brief light flashes or scintillations.
 Distribution of the
number of scattered particles
may be studied as a function
of angle of scattering.
 [Link] of the -particles pass through the foil.
[Link] about 0.14% of the incident -particles scatter by more
than 1°;
[Link] about 1 in 8000 deflect by more than 90°.
[Link] argued that, to deflect the -particle backwards,
it must experience a large repulsive force. be provided if the
greater part of the mass of the atom and its positive charge
were concentrated tightly at its centre.

Rutherford’s experiments suggested the size of the

nucleus to be about 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟓 m to 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟒 m. From kinetic
theory, the size of an atom was known to be 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟎 m,about
10,000 to 100,000 times larger than the size of the nucleus.
Electrostatic force of repulsion between Thus most of an atom is empty space
the alpha particle and the positively most -particles go right through a thin metal foil.
charged nucleus. The magnitude of this However, when -particle happens to come near a nucleus,
force is the intense electric field there scatters it through a large
𝟏 𝟐𝒆 𝒁𝒆 angle. The atomic electrons, being so light, do not
F= appreciably affect the -particles.
𝟒πϵ˳ 𝒓𝟐
Alpha-particle trajectory A given beam of -particles has
a distribution of impact parameters b,
so that the beam is scattered in various
directions with different probabilities
(Fig. 12.4). (In a beam, all particles have
nearly same kinetic energy.) It is seen
that an -particle close to the nucleus
(small impact parameter) suffers large
scattering. In case of head-on collision,
the impact parameter is minimum and
the -particle rebounds back (  ). For
a large impact parameter, the -particle
goes nearly undeviated and has a small
deflection (  0).
Electron orbits
Electromagnetic spectrum
ATOMIC SPECTRA
Each element has a characteristic spectrum of radiation, which it emits. When an
atomic gas or vapour is excited at low pressure, usually by passing an electric current through
it, the emitted radiation has a spectrum which contains certain specific wavelengths only. A
spectrum of this kind is termed as emission line spectrum and it consists of bright lines on a
dark background. Study of emission line spectra of a material can therefore serve as a type of
“fingerprint” for identification of the gas.
 Absorption spectrum
When white light passes through a gas and we analyse the transmitted light using
a spectrometer we find some dark lines in the spectrum. These dark lines correspond
precisely to those wavelengths which were found in the emission line spectrum of the
gas. This is called the absorption spectrum of the material of the gas.
BOHR MODEL OF THE HYDROGEN ATOM
According to classical electromagnetic theory, an accelerating charged particle
emits radiation in the form of electromagnetic waves. The energy of an accelerating
electron should therefore, continuously decrease. The electron would spiral inward
and eventually fall into the nucleus (Fig. 12.6). Thus, such an atom can not be stable.
Further, according to the classical electromagnetic theory, the frequency of the
electromagnetic waves emitted by the revolving electrons is equal to the frequency of
revolution.
Bohr’s Postulates.
[Link] electron in an atom could revolve in certain stable orbits without the emission of radiant
energy. Each atom has certain definite stable states in which it can exist, and each possible
state has definite total energy.

2. Bohr’s second postulate defines these stable orbits. This postulate states that the electron
revolves around the nucleus only in those orbits for which the angular momentum is some
integral multiple of h/2 where h is the Planck’s constant (= 6.6  10–34 J s). Thus the angular
momentum (L) of the orbiting electron is quantised. That is L = nh/2

 An electron might make a transition from one of

its specified non-radiating orbits to another of lower
energy. When it does so, a photon is emitted having
energy equal to the energy difference between the
initial and final states. The frequency of the emitted
photon is then given by
h = Ei – Ef
The radius of nth possible orbit

The total energy of the electron in the stationary states of the

hydrogen atom
 The lowest state of the atom, called the ground
Energy levels state, is that of the lowest energy, with the electron
revolving in the orbit of smallest radius, the Bohr
radius, a0. The energy of this state (n = 1), E1 is –13.6
eV. Therefore, the minimum energy required to free the
electron from the ground state of the hydrogen atom is
13.6 eV. It is called the ionisation energy of the
hydrogen atom.
When a hydrogen atom receives energy by
processes such as electron collisions, the atom may
acquire sufficient energy to raise the electron to higher
energy states. The atom is then said to be in an excited
state.
for n = 2; the energy E2 is –3.40 eV. It means
that the energy required to excite an electron in
hydrogen atom to its first excited state, is an energy
equal to E2 – E1 = –3.40 eV – (–13.6) eV = 10.2 eV.
Similarly, E3 = –1.51 eV and E3 – E1 = 12.09 eV, or to
excite the hydrogen atom from its ground state (n = 1)
to second excited state (n = 3), 12.09 eV energy is
required, and so on.
THE LINE SPECTRA OF THE HYDROGEN ATOM
Limitations Of Bhor’s Model
1. The Bohr model is applicable to hydrogenic atoms. It cannot be extended even to mere two
electron atoms such as helium. The analysis of atoms with more than one electron was
attempted on the lines of Bohr’s model for hydrogenic atoms but did not meet with any
success. Difficulty lies in the fact that each electron interacts not only with the positively
charged nucleus but also with all other electrons.
2. While the Bohr’s model correctly predicts the frequencies of the light emitted by hydrogenic
atoms, the model is unable to explain the relative intensities of the frequencies in the
spectrum. In emission spectrum of hydrogen, some of the visible frequencies have weak
intensity, others strong.