Ancient Greece

Democritus: .
Aristotle:
“All matter is made of
tiny, unbreakable
“All matter is made of particles; atomos”
4 elements; earth,
air, fire and water”
~400 B. C.

Aristotelian viewpoint triumphs for 2000 years…

 2000 years later…

John Dalton, a British

Teacher in the late
1700’s, combined
ideas of elements
with that of atoms and
developed

Dalton’s Atomic
Theory
 Dalton’s Atomic Theory:
 All matter is made of tiny indivisible particles called
atoms.

 Atoms of the same element are identical.

 Atoms combine to form compounds

in simple whole number ratios. (example: electrolysis)

 Chemical reactions involve the rearrangement of

atoms; no matter is created or destroyed.
100 years later, another classy brit
enters the scene:

J.J. Thompson:

English Physicist (1856 – 1940)

Nobel Prize in Physics 1906
Famous for:
• Cathode Ray Experiments
• “Discovery” of proton, neutron and electron
• ‘Plum Pudding’ Model of the Atom
 Thomson’s Experiment
Voltage source
- +

 Passing an electric current makes a beam

appear to move from the negative to the
positive end
 Thomson’s Experiment
Voltage source

-
 By adding an electric field he found that the
moving pieces were negative (electrons!)
This, and Thompson’s other
experiments showed that atoms had…
positive,
(protons)
negative,
(electrons)
and neutral
(neutrons)
…pieces inside them.
(but where in the atom were they?)
 electrons
Thompson
+
suggested a +
- -
positively
“Plum Pudding”
+
- charged
“pudding”
-
Model of the atom: + -
+

It explained conduction of electricity:

- - -
- + - + - +
+ + +
- + + - +
-
- - -
+ - + - + -
+ + +

conduction of electricity
 Thompson’s Model of the Atom:
A bunch of positive stuff,
with the electrons able to
be removed

“Plum Pudding” Model;

a bunch of positive ‘pudding’,
with removable negative ‘plums’ (electrons)
Plum Pudding gets spilled by:

Ernest Rutherford:

New Zealand Physicist

(1871-1937)
Nobel Prize in Physics 1908

Famous for:
• Gold Foil Experiment
• “Discovery” of the nucleus
• Nuclear Model of the Atom
 Rutherford’s experiment
Took
positive charges
(alpha particles; radioactive
particles that are emitted by
Uranium)
and
fired
them His surprise:
at Some of them
Gold Atoms bounced back.
 How it worked:
When the alpha particles hit a
florescent screen, the screen
glows. So, he could keep track of
where the positive charges ended
up after he fired them at some gold
foil.
What he expected

What he saw:
 He Expected

• The alpha particles to pass through without

changing direction very much
• Because
• The positive charges were spread out
evenly. Alone they were not enough to stop
the alpha particles…
Because, he thought
the mass was evenly
distributed in the atom
How he explained what he saw:

• Atom is mostly empty

• Small dense, positive +

piece at center

• Alpha particles are

deflected by it if they
get close enough
Result of Rutherford’s Gold Foil Experiment:
“Discovery” of the Nucleus
Rutherford’s Scattering
Experiment
metal
foil
alpha
particles

Ernest Rutherford
1871-1937
film loop

what he expected:

ricocheting
what he got:
alpha
particles!
 Goodbye, Plum Pudding;
• Thomson’s Atom:
– diffuse mass and charge
++
– + alpha particles would have +
- +-
- + ++
passed through -
+- + ++

Hello, Nuclear Model ++

•Rutherford’s Atom: ++

–concentrated mass and positive

++
charge at the nucleus
–electrons roam empty space 10-8 cm
around the nucleus 10-13 cm

– some + alpha particles repelled

Niels Bohr:

Danish Physicist (1885 – 1962)

Nobel Prize in Physics 1906
Famous for:

• Planetary Model of the Atom

• “Father of” Quantum Theory / Mechanics

“Electrons have specific energy levels,

…like planets have specific orbits.”
 Bohr said:
Electrons can only
be at certain, specific

energy
n=1
levels n=2
(distances from the nucleus)
n=3

n = the primary quantum number

(distance from nucleus
 Electrons are found in
‘shells’ = ‘energy levels’

can hold 18 electrons

can hold 8 electrons

can hold 2 electrons

 Valence Shell:
The outermost shell that contains electrons.

Valence Electron:
An electron in an atom’s valence shell
 Bohr Model Diagrams
…show energy levels (shells) and the electrons in them.
nucleus is not shown.

Inner shells fill first;

1st shell (n = 1) gets 2 e-

2nd shell (n = 2) gets 8 e-

3rd shell (n = 3) gets 8 e-

…before 4th shell starts to fill