SCIENCE

ATOMS: INSIDE OUT

WEEK 5

Denilyn B. Agripa
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this lesson, you are expected to:

1. differentiate atoms from molecules;
2. discuss the historical background of the atom
and its sub-atomic particle.
What is it?  In previous lesson, you learned that matter is
made up of atoms which are too small to see
with the unaided eye.
 When the idea of the atoms was conceived by
the ancient Greek philosophers, they thought
the atom is indivisible, that it has no parts.
 Scientists have proven, however, that the atom
is composed of even smaller particles. These
components of the atom are referred to as
subatomic particles.
 How are these particles arranged in atoms?
Prepare yourself to turn the atoms inside out!
The History of the Atom
Democritus was a Greek philosopher who was the first person to use the term
atom (Atomos: meaning indivisible).

He thought that if you take a piece of matter and divide it and continue to
divide it you will eventually come to a point where you could not divide it
anymore.

This fundamental or basic unit was what Democritus called an atom.

He called this the theory of the universe:

1. All matter consists of atoms, which are bits of matter too small to be
seen.

2. There is an empty space between atoms.

3. Atoms are completely solid.

DEMOCRITUS
400 BC 4. Atoms have no internal structure. Each atom (of a different substance) is
different in size, weight and shape.
 The History of the Atom

 To Democritus, atoms were small, hard particles that

were all made of the same material but were different
DEMOCRIT shapes and sizes
US .
400 BC  Atoms were infinite in number, always moving and
 This theory was ignored
and forgotten for more than
2000 years!
Why?

● The eminent philosophers of the

time, Aristotle and Plato, had a more
respected, (and ultimately wrong)
theory.

Aristotle and Plato favored the earth, fire, air and

water approach to the nature of matter. Their ideas
held sway because of their eminence as
philosophers. The atomos idea was buried for
approximately 2000 years.
 The History of the Atom

John Dalton was an English chemist.

His ideas form the atomic theory of matter. Here
are his ideas;

1. All matter is composed of indivisible particles

called atoms.
2. All atoms of a given element are identical in
mass and properties. Atoms of different
elements have different masses and different
properties.
3. Compounds are formed by a combination of 2
or more atoms.
JOHN
4. Atoms cannot be created, destroyed, or DALTON
converted into other kinds of atoms during 1800
chemical reactions. This theory became one of the
foundations of modern chemistry.
 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
 The History of the Atom

J.J Thomson was a physicist who is

credited for discovering the
electron. He used his research on
cathode ray tube technology in this
discovery.

J.J Thomson was an excellent physicist and thus did not stop
when he had found this negative charge. Through a series of
clever experiments he was able to predict the mass of this
charge. He then found out that this charge was 1000 times
JOSEPH lighter that a hydrogen atom. He made a bold statement
saying that this negative charge must be inside an atom. This
JOHN
negative charge (he called corpuscles) later became known as
THOMSON
the electron.
1890
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
existance of the electron

positive negative
(evenly distributed) “chocolate”
“dough”
part

note: this model kept Dalton’s key ideas intact

 THOMSON’S ATOMIC
The History of the Atom MODEL
(PLUM PUDDING
MODEL)
Using what he had discovered, Thomson predicted what an
atom should look like. These are the key points to Thomson’s
Atomic Model:

1. Because of its design this model is known as the plum

pudding model
2. Each atom is a sphere filled with positively charged ‘fluid’.
This resembles the sticky jam part of a pudding.
3. Corpuscles (later called electrons), are the negatively
charged particles suspended in this ‘fluid’. This resembles
the plums in the pudding.
4. He did not predict the movement of these electrons.
 ERNEST
The History of the Atom RUTHERFORD
1910’S

Ernest Rutherford was not convinced about the

model of the atom proposed by Thomson. He thus
set up his now famous Gold Foil Experiment.

1. He fired alpha particles (positively charged) at a gold foil.

2. He measured the deflection as the particles came out the
other side.
3. Most of the particles did not deflect at all. Every now and
then a particle would deflect all the way back.
4. He said that there must be a positive center of the foil. He
called this center the nucleus.
LITERAT
URE
REVIEW
THEORY 1 THEORY 2
Venus is terribly hot—even hotter Jupiter is a gas giant. Its name
than Mercury—and its comes from the Roman god of
atmosphere is extremely the sky and lightning
poisonous

THEORY 3
Mercury is the closest planet to
the Sun and the smallest one in
the Solar System
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 the gold
 Rutherford’s problem:

In the following pictures, there is a target hidden by a

cloud. To figure out the shape of the target, we shot
some beams into the cloud and recorded where the
beams came out. Can you figure out the shape of the
target?

Target Target
#1 #2
 The Answers:

Target #1 Target #2
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 empty space
with the occasional negatively charged electron

-
-
-
+

-
-
note: this model completely changed the definition of atom
Rutherford’s Findings

* MOST of the particles passed right through

* SOME particles were deflected
* FEW were greatly deflected

Conclusions:

#1 The nucleus is small

#2 The nucleus is dense
#3 The nucleus is positively charged
Rutherford

● Rutherford reasoned that all

of an atom’s positively
charged particles were
contained in the nucleus.
The negatively charged
particles were scattered
outside the nucleus around
the atom’s edge.
 S ATOMIC
MODEL 1. The nucleus of the atom is a dense
mass of positively charged
(NUCLEAR particles.
MODEL) 2. The electrons orbit the nucleus.
3. A problem raised was: Why are the
negatively charged particles not
attracted by the positively charged
nucleus.
4. Rutherford stated that the atom
was like a mini solar system and
that the electrons orbited the
nucleus in a wide orbit. That is why
it is known as the planetary model.
The History of the Atom

Niels Bohr agreed with the planetary model of the atom, but also knew
that it had a few flaws. Using his knowledge of energy and quantum
physics he was able to perfect Rutherford’s model. He was able to
answer why the electrons did not collapse into the nucleus.

According to Bohr’s atomic model,

electrons move in definite orbits
around the nucleus, much like
NEILS planets circle the sun. These orbits,
BOHR or energy levels, are located at
1910’S certain distances from the nucleus.
Bohr Model
● Niels Bohr proposed that electrons revolve around
the central positive nucleus (like planets in the
solar system)

negative electrons

3 positive protons
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

MODEL
(THE
1. Electrons orbit the nucleus in orbits that have a
PLANETARY set size and energy.
MODEL) 2. The lower the energy of the electron, the lower
the orbit.
3. This means that as electrons fill up the orbitals,
they will fill the lower energy level first.
4. If that energy level is at fill (or at capacity), a
new energy level will begin.
5. Radiation is when an electron moves from one
level to another. However, here is the problem
with this theory: Electrons do not travel on a
specific orbit or path.
The History of the Atom

Erwin Schrödinger was a revolutionary

physicist who used Heisenberg’s
uncertainty principle to come up with
the atomic model that we still use
today.

• Found that Electrons live in fuzzy regions ERWIN

or “clouds” not distinct orbits SCHRÖDIN
• Improved on Bohr’s findings GER
• Electron location can not be predicted
1920’S
Quantum Mechanical Model
electrons can be found
anywhere in these “shells”

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 note: the electrons are still
quantized
no electrons can be found
here
THE QUANTUM MECHANICAL MODEL
● According to the theory of wave mechanics, electrons
do not move about an atom in a definite path, like the
planets around the sun.

● In fact, it is impossible to determine the exact location

of an electron. The probable location of an electron is
based on how much energy the electron has.

● According to the modern atomic model, at atom has a

small positively charged nucleus surrounded by a
large region in which there are enough electrons to
make an atom neutral.
Electron Cloud:
● A space in which electrons are likely to be found.
● Electrons whirl about the nucleus billions of times in
one second
● They are not moving around in random patterns.
● Location of electrons depends upon how much energy
the electron has.
● Depending on their energy they are locked into a certain
area in the cloud.
● Electrons with the lowest energy are found in the
energy level closest to the nucleus
● Electrons with the highest energy are found in the
outermost energy levels, farther from the nucleus.
 SCHRÖDINGER’S ATOMIC
MODEL (THE QUANTUM
MECHANICAL MODEL)
1. An electron does not travel in an
exact orbit.
2. We can predict where it will
probably be.
3. We cannot say for certain where it is,
but only where it ought to be.
4. The type of probability orbit is
dependent on the energy level
described by Bohr.
 Indivisible Electron Nucleus Orbit Electron
Cloud

Greek X

Dalton X

Thomson X

Rutherford X X

Bohr X X X

Wave X X X
TIMELINE
SUB-ATOMIC
PARTICLES