INSIDE AN ATOM

Ernest Rutherford’s Experiment or

The Gold Foil Experiment
 Ernest Rutherford’s atomic
theory (1911) -
 There exists a highly positively charged
body at the centre of an atom

 This body accounts for the bulk of the

atomic mass

 A diffused cloud of negatively

charged electrons orbit around the positive
mass
 Neil Bohr’s Atomic Theory
(1913) -
 There exists a positively charged body at
the centre of an atom - Nucleus

 The electrons only travel in special orbits -

at a certain discrete set of distances from
the nucleus with specific energies.

 They can gain and lose energy by jumping

from one allowed orbit to another, absorbing or
emitting electromagnetic radiation
Orbital and electrons in an orbital
 Orbitals - energy levels around a nucleus

 Orbitals named as k, l, m, n, o, p

 Each orbital has a fixed amount energy associated with

it

 Number of electrons in an orbital determined by - 2n2

 Maximum number of electrons possible in a shell - 32

 Electron farthest from the nucleus are the most loosely

bound, and hence can easily participate in chemical
reactions
Atomic Number and Atomic Mass Number

 Atomic number, Z = number of protons

 Atomic mass number, A = number of

protons + number of neutrons