SubAtomic
Particles
By: Sania Khan
Daltons Atomic Theory (1803)
Everything is composed of atoms, which are indivisible
building blocks of matter and cannot be destroyed.
All atoms of an element are identical.
The atoms of different elements vary in size and mass.
Compounds are produced through different whole-number
combinations of atoms.
A chemical reaction results in the rearrangement of atoms in
the reactants and product compounds.
Brownian Motion (1827)
Discovered in 1827 by botanist Robert Brown
Randommotionof particles suspended in a fluid resulting from
their collision with the fast-moving atoms or molecules in the fluid.
He used a microscope to look at pollen grains moving randomly in
water. At this point, he could not explain why this occurred.
In 1905, physicistAlbert Einsteinexplained that the pollen grains
were being moved by individual water molecules.
Confirmed the existence of atoms and molecules. Also provided
evidence for the particle theory.
J. J Thomson (1897)
Introduced the plum pudding model.
Discovered the electron using the cathode ray. Passing an
electric current makes a beam appear to move from the
negative to the positive end.
He compared the value with the mass/ charge ratio for the
lightest charged particle.
By comparison, Thomson estimated that the cathode ray
particle weighed 1/1000 as much as hydrogen, the lightest
atom.
Volts
Displacement
Anodes / collimators
Cathode
+
Deflection
region
Drift region
Ernest Rutherford (1907)
He fired a (alpha) particles at a very thin sample of
gold foil
According to the Thomson model the a particles
would only be slightly deflected
Rutherford discovered that they were deflected
through large angles and could even be reflected
straight back to the source.
Expectations: -particles would be deflected by the
sub-atomic particles in the gold atoms.
Since the -particles were much heavier than the
protons, he did not expect to see large deflections
Rutherfords Apparatus
beam of alpha particles
radioactive
substance
fluorescent screen
circular - ZnS coated
gold foil
Dorin, Demmin, Gabel, Chemistry The Study of Matter , 3rd Edition, 1990, page 120
Conclusions
Observations
Explanation
Most particles were undeflected
Most of the space inside the atom is
empty.
A few particles were slightly deflected
Indicating that the positive charge of the
atom occupies very little space.
A few particles bounced back
Indicating that all the positive charge and
mass of the gold atom were concentrated
in a very small volume within the atom.
Problems with Rutherfords model
He could not explain why individual atoms
produce discrete spectra of visible light.
Electrons accelerate in orbit and thus should produce
electromagnetic radiation with a wide range of
frequencies.
The electron accelerates around the nucleus and
that it releases EM radiation.
The electron would lose KE and continually decrease in
velocity. Thus would eventually crash into the nucleus.
Implying that the atom is UNSTABLE.
Niels Bohr (1913)
A fixed positive nucleus and electrons travel around the nucleus in
definite orbitals.
Bohr explained how electrons could jump from one orbit to another
only by emitting or absorbing energy in fixed quanta.
The farther away from nucleus, the more energy the electron has.
Problems with Bohrs Model
Electron couldnt circle around nucleus like a planet because
it would lose energy and spiral into the nucleus.
It violates theHeisenberg Uncertainty Principlebecause it
considers electrons to have both aknown radiusand orbit.
Bohr was not able to explain electron orbits of large atom with
many electrons.
James Chadwick (1932)
Discovered the neutron.
Polonium released particles which would hit the beryllium target, this
released unknown radiation.
This radiation would hit the paraffin, this would release protons which
could be detected by the Geiger Counter.
This supposed radiation had no electrical charge. It also had
approximately the same mass as a proton.
He called this particle the neutron.
Importance of the discovery of the
Neutron
Uncharged so could penetrate the nucleus without being repelled (like the
proton).
This helped build nuclear power, and nuclear weapons during the Second
World War.
Chadwick helped in the theory behind the first nuclear bombs, and used a
particle accelerator to show that it is possible to construct them with only a
few kilograms of uranium.
THANK YOU!
