Topic 5: From Quanta to Quarks

Section 5.1 The Bohr Model of the Atom

At the beginning of the 20
th
century the Newtonian Classical Physics failed to explain:
1. Blackbody radiation
2. Photoelectric effect
3. Radioactivity and
4. The emission of sharp spectral lines by atoms in a gas discharge tubes.
Rutherfords Model of the Atom
Rutherford and his assistants J. Geiger and E. Marsden performed experiments using
-particles released from Radon. They bombarded platinum and gold foils 10
7
m thick.
They found that one in every 8000 -particles was deflected through angles greater than 90
According to Thomsonss model of the atom, there should have been only small angles of
deflection, because the atom had no large concentration of charge or mass, to deflect the fast
moving -particles.

1. Possible scattering of-particles based on the Thomson model of the atom
2. Possible scattering of -particles based on Rutherfords model of the atom


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Structure of the Atom Based on Rutherford
1. A massive but tiny positively charge centre (nucleus) about 10
15
m in diameter with
electrons orbiting this nucleus like planets orbiting the Sun.
2. The total positive charge of the nucleus is balanced by the total negative charge of the
electrons.
3. About 99.9% of the atoms mass is taken by the nucleus and the rest is empty space.
On the basis of these findings Thomsons model of the atom must be incorrect.
Limitations to Rutherfords Model of the Atom
Rutherfords model of the atom failed to explain
1. What is the nucleus made of
2. How are the orbits of the electrons arranged around the nucleus
3. What keeps the negatively charge electrons from losing their energy and spralling into
the positively charged nucleus. According to Maxwells classical electromagnetic theory,
the accelerating electrons should radiate away their energy in a split of second and crash
into the nucleus
4. Rutherfords planetary model of the atom could not explain the observed line spectra of
excited gases (emission spectra lines)