Atomic Model Timeline
By: Aahana Bhandari
Democritus’s Atomic Theory - 400 BC
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.
Democritus set out to discover that atoms
existed, but in his day there existed no
microscopes or computers. The Democritus
experiment was ingenious, and he carried it out
by initially breaking a seashell into two pieces.
He then determined those two pieces were
composed of the same substance.
John Dalton’s ‘Solid Sphere’ Theory - 1800’s
All elements are composed of small, indivisible particles (atoms)
specific to that element. All atoms of the same element are exactly the
same. Atoms can be neither created nor destroyed. All compounds are
created by combining atoms of different elements in whole-number
ratios.
Dalton's experiment of combining oxygen with
volumes of nitric oxide in a covered container over
water led to his discovery that the total pressure of a
mixture of gases aggregated to the amount of the
incomplete pressures that each gas exerted while
residing in the same space.
J.J Thomson’s ‘Plum Pudding’ Model - 1897
The plum pudding model (also known as Thomson's plum pudding model)
is a historical scientific model of the atom. The plum pudding model is
defined by electrons surrounded by a volume of positive charge, like
negatively-charged “plums” embedded in a positively-charged “pudding”
(hence the name).
The experiment Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) conducted by
J. J. Thomson, is one of the most well-known physical
experiments that led to electron discovery. In addition,
the experiment could describe characteristic
properties, in essence, its affinity to positive charge,
and its charge to mass ratio.
Ernest Rutherford ‘Nuclear Model’ Theory - 1909
Ernest Rutherford found that the atom is mostly empty space,
with nearly all of its mass concentrated in a tiny central nucleus.
The nucleus is positively charged and surrounded at a great
distance by the negatively charged electrons.
Ernest Rutherford’s ‘Nuclear Model‘ experiment
consisted of A piece of gold foil which was hit
with alpha particles, which have a positive
charge. Most alpha particles went right
through. This showed that the gold atoms were
mostly empty space.
Niel Bohr ‘Electron Shells’ - 1913
Bohr hypothesized that the only way electrons could gain or lose
energy would be to move from one energy level to another, thus
gaining or losing precise amounts of energy. The energy levels are
quantized, meaning that only specific amounts are possible. It would
be like a ladder that had rungs only at certain heights.
Bohr proposed his quantized shell model of the atom to explain how
electrons can have stable orbits around the nucleus. The motion of the
electrons in the Rutherford model was unstable because, according to
classical mechanics and electromagnetic theory, any charged particle
moving on a curved path emits electromagnetic radiation; thus, the
electrons would lose energy and spiral into the nucleus. To remedy the
stability problem, Bohr modified the Rutherford model by requiring
that the electrons move in orbits of fixed size and energy. The energy
of an electron depends on the size of the orbit and is lower for smaller
orbits. Radiation can occur only when the electron jumps from one
orbit to another. The atom will be completely stable in the state with
the smallest orbit, since there is no orbit of lower energy into which
the electron can jump.
Ernest Rutherford’s Discovery of Protons - 1919
Ernest Rutherford observed that his scintillation detectors detected
hydrogen nuclei when a beam of alpha particles was shot into the air.
After investigating further, Rutherford found that these hydrogen
nuclei were produced from the nitrogen atoms present in the
atmosphere.
Rutherford found that nitrogen nuclei ejected what he suspected
was "a hydrogen atom" when bombarded with energetic α (alpha)
particles. Subsequently, he named this fundamental particle the
proton.
James Chadwick’s Discovery of Neutrons - 1932
In 1932, the physicist James Chadwick conducted an experiment in which he
bombarded Beryllium with alpha particles from the natural radioactive decay of
Polonium. The resulting radiation showed high penetration through a lead shield,
which could not be explained via the particles known at that time.
James Chadwick fired alpha radiation at beryllium sheet from a
polonium source. This led to the production of an uncharged,
penetrating radiation.
This radiation was made incident on paraffin wax, a
hydrocarbon having a relatively high hydrogen content.
The protons ejected from the paraffin wax (when struck by the
uncharged radiation) were observed with the help of an
ionization chamber.
The range of the liberated protons was measured and the
interaction between the uncharged radiation and the atoms of
several gases was studied by Chadwick.
He concluded that the unusually penetrating radiation consisted
of uncharged particles having (approximately) the same mass
as a proton. These particles were later termed ‘neutrons’.
