Democritus (460-370BCE)

DISCOVERED ATOMIC THEORY

What did he believe

 Democritus believed that everything was composed of atoms which were

indestructible and in them was a lot of empty space.

 Democritus believed that atoms were uniform, solid, hard, incompressible, and
indestructible and that they moved in infinite numbers through empty space until
stopped. Differences in atomic shape and size determined the various properties
of matter.
Contributions to atomic theory

 He discovered that if something (e.g. a stone) was divided they would have the
same properties no matter how many times they were cut.
 Then at some point it would not be able to be split apart again, calling them
Atomos, the Greek work for indivisible, currently known as atoms.
Experiments

 Democritus believed that everything (physical) got to a point of indivisibility. To

prove this he
 Broke a seashell in half, and again, and again, and again…
 Eventually he got to a fine powder not being able to split it up further.
 His theory was grounded on two laws The law of
conservation of mass

Dalton's Atomic The law of constant

Theory composition
The atomic theory explains
Will His Theory: the laws of chemical
Bonser 1.All matter is made of combination (the law of
atoms, which are constant composition and
indivisible and the law of Mutiple
indestructible proportions).
In the early 1800s, John Dalton produced 2. All atoms of a given
the first complete attempt at describing element are identical in
all matter composed of atoms and their mass and properties and
properties. The theory originated in his different from those of
earlier studies of the properties of every other element
atmospheric gases, in which he
3. Compounds are
discovered that oxygen combined with
combinations of two or
either one or two volumes of nitric oxide
more different types of
in closed vessels over water. Because it
atoms
was a fixed ratio each time this helped
him discover that each atom of a different 4. A chemical reaction is a
element had a different mass. rearrangement of atoms
John Dalton DEVELOPED the FIRST TABLE of
ATOMIC MASSES
He used his OWN SYMBOLS to REPRESENT ATOMS of
DIFFERENT ELEMENTS

ALL matter is COMPOSED of TINY INDIVISIBLE

PARTICLES called ATOMS

All ATOMS of the SAME ELEMENT are IDENTICAL

DIFFERENT ELEMENTS have DIFFERENT types of

ATOMS

COMPOUNDS are FORMED from simple

COMBINATIONS of ATOMS of DIFFERENT ELEMENTS

In a CHEMICAL REACTION ATOMS are simply

REARRANGED
MANY of Dalton’s PREDICTIONS STILL hold TRUE
and can be APPLIED to chemistry TODAY
J.J. Thomson
Sofia Salas Lopez
 Discovery of electrons!
Back in the 1800’s…
Scientists discovered cathode rays (which we know now are electron rays- like the
ones used in electron microscopes).

J.J. Thomson discovered that cathode rays were a stream of particles that had certain
properties;

-Negative charge

-Could be affected by magnetic and electric fields (due to its charge)

-The particles has a very small mass

We all now know that these particles were actually electrons

Experiments
MAGNETS
The ray of
electrons was
JJ Thomson attracted to the
created and positive
tested an magnet.
experiment were This indicated to
he used cathode Thomson that it
rays. must have
He aimed the something
making it
ray through two
negative and
magnets.
led to his
discovery of
electron
 Final model

Mysterious fruit
bits

‘Sea’ of
electrons

Cake

Ball of positive
charge

How did this change from the previous model?

Thomson added to Dalton’s model by adding electrons to his model. Previously Dalton thought atoms were just
balls of mass but Thomson proved that negative particles called electrons existed that countered the other positive
charge of the atom. (This helped explain charges and eventually the reactivity of elements)
Marie Curie
The development of the atom
By Alex Toohey
 • In 1898, Marie Curie and her husband Pierre
discovered the strongly radioactive elements
polonium and radium.
How did she • From experiments, Curie concluded that rays
from uranium remained constant, no matter
add to the the condition or form of the uranium.
knowledge • She theorised that the rays came from the
of the atom? element’s atomic structure.
• Curie invented the word as ‘radioactivity’.
• Her research created the field of atomic
physics.
 • Marie and Pierre spent time working with
pitchblende (a mineral that is the
crystallized form of uranium oxide, and is
about 70 percent uranium).
• Through working with this mineral, they
were able to discover the elements
Marie Curie’s polonium and radium, and Curie also
managed to isolate radium from the
Experiments mineral.
• She also tested all of the known elements
at the time to see if they made air conduct
electricity better, or if it was uranium
alone. Through this she was able to
discover that thorium compounds (e.g.
uranium) emit Becquerel rays.

Pitchblende
What do her discoveries
help to explain?
• Her research consequently helps to
explain what radioactivity is, and
which elements it is emitted from.
• Her discovery of the 2 elements also
helped add to the periodic table and
the understanding of elements.
• Her discovery of radioactivity also
revolutionised medicine, as this
helped her to conduct research into
the treatment of tumours with
radiation.
Ernest Rutherford Dimitri Frangou Alpha Particle: A helium
nucleus emitted by some
radioactive substances/form
The Famous Experiment of nuclear radiation with a
large positive charge.
The Alpha Particle Experiment:
In 1905, Ernest Rutherford did an experiment to test The Plum Pudding Model:
the plum pudding model. He directed a beam A past model of the atom,
of alpha particles at a very thin gold leaf suspended described as a sphere of
in a vacuum. positive charge with
negatively charged electrons
It was thought that the alpha particles could pass embedded within it.
straight through the thin foil, or puncture it. If the
plum pudding model had been correct then all of
the fast, highly charged alpha particles would have
However, the events predicted by this scientist were
went straight through undeflected.
not all true:
• most of the alpha particles did pass straight through the
foil
• a small number of alpha particles were deflected by
large angles (> 4°) as they passed through the foil
• a very small number of alpha particles came straight
back off the foil
 Dimitri Frangou
Rutherford's Conclusion
The fact that most alpha particles went
straight through the foil evidently
showed the atom was mostly empty
space.
The very small number of alpha particles
coming straight back suggested that the
positive charge and mass are
concentrated in a tiny volume in the
atom (the nucleus) - the tiny chance of
that happening means the chance of
being on that exact collision course was
very small, and so the 'target' being A small number of alpha particles that
aimed at had to be equally tiny. were deflected at large angles suggested
that there is a concentration of positive
charge in the atom – the same charge
repels one another, meaning the positive
alpha particles were being repelled by
positive charges, which was the nucleus.
 Dimitri Frangou
How did Rutherford add to the knowledge about THE ATOM?
JJ Thomson-discovered
the electron in 1897,
Rutherford came up with an idea to
creator of the Plum
explain this new evidence and ‘create’ a
Pudding model theory
new nuclear model of the atom.

In this, there’s a tiny, positively charged

nucleus at the centre, where most of the
mass is concentrated. A ‘cloud’ of
negative electrons surrounds this
nucleus, meaning the atom was mostly
empty space.
This inevitably contradicted JJ
Thomson’ Plum Pudding model of
the nuclear atom which in turn
improved and ‘updated’ the atom’s
‘true’ structure.
Ernest Rutherford
Development of the atomic model
How did he add knowledge about the atom?
Ernest Rutherford discovered that there were two types of radiation
(alpha and beta) coming from uranium. He also made the discovery
that atoms were mostly just empty space, contradicting the previous
plum pudding model of the atom.
The Gold Foil Experiment
Rutherford concluded that atoms were mostly empty space using the
gold foil experiment. He fired alpha particles at a sheet of gold foil to
observe the reaction of atoms upon impact with a sheet of gold foil. If
the plum pudding model – which claims that the atom is a sphere with
positive charge with electrons dotted around – was true, the particles
would all deflect off the gold foil. However, the majority of particles
passed through (96%), which proves that the atom consists of mostly
empty space. Gold foil was used as it can be rolled out to be very, very
thin.
What phenomena did this explain?
The Gold Foil Experiment helped explain that the plum pudding model
was false – atoms are mostly empty space rather than a dense,
positively charged sphere.
Henry Mosley By Nadish

Henry Mosely is a english physicist who contributed to our understanding of the periodic table today.

In 1913 he built an experiment to prove that elements are

determined by their atomic number (number of protons)

This discovery enabled Mosely to predict 4 different elements all

which were found later!

Moseley provided a method that could determine how many

empty spaces remained in the periodic table and this helped
chemists ordering elements.
The Experiment (X Ray spectrometer)

X
Methord Results

He placed the specimen he These values helped

wanted to investigate on the moseley to calculate the
electron tube, and created a wavelength and hence the
vacuum number of protons in the
nucleus
When electrons hit the
element, this would create an
Xray that would have its own
reflection angles.
 Atomic
structure
How Henry Moseley (Father of the
Atomic Number) developed the
understanding of the atomic structure

Ella Watt 
 Development
Experiment Moseley put forth the idea that the atomic
1. Fired beams of electrons at number in the periodic table represented the
different elements number of positive nucleons (protons) within the
2. The high energy hitting the element's nucleus and changed the periods in
nucleus caused x-rays to be
order of increasing atomic number. 
diffracted
3. Observed the x-ray spectra This changed Mendeleev's previous periodic
produced table of ordering each element based on its
atomic weight, which included both neutrons
The frequency of the x-ray and protons within each element
produced correlated to the size of
the nuclear charges He modified the periodic law by saying that the
properties of the elements vary periodically due
Observations to its atomic number

• He found that the number of protons present

determined the elements atomic number
- This allowed multiple elements to be placed in the
correct order including:
• The less x-rays produced showed the element
had a lower atomic number 1. Tellurium and iodine
• Linear relationship between atomic number
2. Argon and potassium
and the energy released
3. Cobalt and nickel
ENERGY RELEASED IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE
NUMBER OF PROTONS
James Chadwick
What did he discover? James Chadwick
Around 20 years after scientists had accepted
that atoms have nuclei, in 1932 an English
physicist called James Chadwick carried out an
experiment which proved the existence of a
neutral particle in a nucleus that are now known
as neutrons. Chadwick's discovery resulted in a
new model of the atom very similar to the
modern-day version, known as the nuclear
model.

How did he discover the neutron?

He conducted an experiment in which he bombarded
Beryllium with alpha particles from the natural How did his discovery effect the world?
radioactive decay of Polonium. The resulting radiation
Chadwick prepared the way towards the
showed high penetration through a lead shield, which fission of uranium 235 and towards the
could not be explained via the particles known at that creation of the atomic bomb!
time. He showed that this new type of radiation was
made up of uncharged particles (hence the name
neutrons) with approximately the same mass as a proton.