History and
Models of the Atom
ATOMS
● All matter is made up
of tiny particles called
atoms. Atoms, which
are made up of protons,
neutrons, and
electrons.
MOLECULES
● Molecules
are made up of
one or more
atoms.
ATOMS VS. MOLECULES
Democritus
● Believed universe made of
invisible units called atoms
• Named them Atoms
• 400 BC
• Aristotle said “He’s a
quack!!!”
• Took 2000 years to be
proved right!
John Dalton
● Proposed the “Dalton’s Atomic Theory”
1. All elements are composed of tiny
indivisible particles called atoms
2. Atoms of the same element are identical.
Atoms of any one element are different
from those of any other element.
3. Atoms of different elements combine in
simple whole-number ratios to form
chemical compounds
4. In chemical reactions, atoms are
combined, separated, or rearranged – but
never changed into atoms of another
element.
ISOTOPES
• Dalton was wrong about all elements of
the same type being identical
• Atoms of the same element can have
different numbers of neutrons.
• Thus, different mass numbers.
• These are called isotopes.
Frederick Soddy
● Frederick Soddy (1877-1956)
proposed the idea of isotopes in
1912 (note this was close to 30
years after Dalton’s original idea)
● Isotopes are atoms of the same
element having different masses,
due to varying numbers of neutrons.
● Soddy won the Nobel Prize in
Chemistry in 1921 for his work with
isotopes and radioactive materials.
The “Billiard Ball” Model
Proposed by John Dalton in 1804
This theory proposed that matter was
composed of small, spherical particles
But evidence was later gathered that
matter was composed of even smaller
bits
New Evidence
● During the 1900s evidence was
discovered regarding charges:
○ atoms have positive
(Rutherford’s contribution)
and negative (Thomson’s
contribution) parts
○ charges interact:
● As a result, revisions to Dalton’s
model had to be made
Thomson: “Plum Pudding” or “Chocolate Chip Cookie”
Model
● Using available data on the atom,
J.J. Thomson came up with the idea
of having charges embedded with
Dalton’s Billiard Balls
● Also used cathode ray experiment to
discover the existence of the positive
electron (evenly distributed)
“dough” negative
part
“chocolate”
Discovery of the Electron
● In 1897, J.J. Thomson used a cathode ray tube to deduce
the presence of a negatively charged particle: the electron
Conclusions from the Study of the Electron
● A. Cathode rays have identical properties regardless of the
element used to produce them. All elements must contain
identically charged electrons.
● B. Atoms are neutral, so there must be positive particles in
the atom to balance the negative charge of the electrons
● C. Electrons have so little mass that atoms must contain
other particles that account for most of the mass
Ernest Rutherford
● He discovered a huge flaw in the
previous concept of the atom
during his now famous gold foil
experiment
● Discovered the Nucleus and the
Positive Protons
● Surmised atoms are made of
mostly empty space
● Didn’t know about the Neutrons
● Famous Gold Foil Experiment
Gold Foil Experiment
Particles shot through thin sheet of gold
• Most shots went straight through
• A small amount were deflected
• Hence… The atoms must be made of
mostly empty space with a small dense
nucleus
Further explanation of Nuclear Model
If previous models were correct alpha particles would
have passed straight through the gold
Nuclear Model
Rutherford found that most (99%) of the alpha particles that he shot at the
gold went straight through
From these experiments, Rutherford concluded that the atom had a dense
positive core, with the rest composed of mostly space with the occasional
negatively charged electron
Niels Bohr
● Discovered that electrons exist in
several distinct layers or levels
● “Jimmy Neutron Model”
● Travel around the nucleus as planets
travel around the sun
● Electrons Orbit
● Electrons can jump between levels
with energy being added/released
Bohr Model
Niels Bohr proposed that electrons revolve around the central positive
nucleus (like planets in the solar system)
Bohr Model
Bohr also suggested that the electrons can only revolve in certain
orbits, or at certain energy levels (ie, the energy levels are
quantized)
no energy level in between steps
Heisenberg and Schrodinger
● Found that Electrons live in
fuzzy regions or “clouds”
not distinct orbits
● Improved on Bohr’s findings
● Electron location can not
be predicted
● Quantum Mechanical Model
Quantum Mechanical Model
● the current understanding of the atom is based on Quantum
Mechanics
● this model sees the electrons not as individual particles, but
as behaving like a cloud - the electron can be “anywhere” in a
certain energy level
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