History of the Atom

History of the Atom

• Democritus
• 5th Century B.C
• All matter is
made of particles
that can no
longer be divided
– Atom
History of the atom
• 1803
• John Dalton
• Billiard Ball model
• Said the atom is a
small solid sphere
History of the Atom
• 1897
• Thomson
• Plum Pudding Model
• The atom has positive
and negative parts
History of the Atom
• 1908-1913
• Rutherford/Bohr
• Solar system Model
• The atom is mostly
empty space with a
dense positively
charged center
surrounded by
negative electrons
 Rutherford/Bohr Model

Electrons orbit a central point

History of the Atom
• 1920+
• Schrodinger and
Heisenberg
• Atoms have a dense
center made of
protons and neutrons
surrounded by
electrons in a cloud