Early theories of the structure of matter were not based upon experiments.

As scientists began to study the relationship

between several physical phenomenon such as electricity, and magnetism they began to develop different models about
atomic structure.

Year Scientist(s)  Discovery 

     

Democrit "by convention bitter,

Gre
us by convention sweet,
ek  
 + but in reality atoms
era
Leucippus and void"

Proposed a
170  Isaac mechanical universe
4 Newton with small solid
masses in motion.

Proposed an "atomic
theory" with
180 John spherical solid atoms
3 Dalton based upon
measurable
properties of mass.

Studied the effect of

electricity on
solutions, coined
term "electrolysis" as
a splitting of
183 Michael molecules with
2 Faraday electricity, developed
laws of electrolysis.
Faraday himself was
not a proponent of
atomism.

Built one of the first

185 J. Plucker  gas discharge tubes
9  ("cathode ray tube"). 

186 Lothar Classified elements

4 Meyer into six families by
their valence.

186 Dmitri Arranged elements

9 Mendele into 7 groups with
 similar properties.  He
discovered that the
properties of
elements  "were
ev periodic functions of
the their atomic
weights".  This
became known as the
Periodic Law.

James Proposed electric and

187
Clerk magnetic fields filled
3
Maxwell the void.

Discovered cathode
rays had the
following properties:
travel in straight lines
from the cathode;
cause glass to
fluoresce; impart a
negative charge to
Sir
187 objects they strike;
William
9  are deflected by
Crookes
electric fields and
magnets to suggest a
negative charge;
cause pinwheels in
their path to spin
indicating they have
mass.
 

Used a CRT to study

"canal rays" which
188 E. had electrical and
6 Goldstein  magnetic properties
opposite of an
electron. 

Proposed that
electricity was made
189 G.J. of discrete negative
4  Stoney particles he called 
" electrons  ". 
 Using a CRT he
observed that nearby
chemicals glowed.
Further experiments
found very
penetrating rays
189 Wilhelm
coming from the CRT
5  Roentgen
that were not
deflected by a
magnetic field. He
named them "X-
rays". 

While studying the

effect of x-rays on
photographic film, he
discovered some
189 Henri chemicals
6  Becquerel spontaneously
decompose and give
off very pentrating
rays. 

Used a CRT to
experimentally
determine the charge
to mass ratio (e/m) of
an electron =1.759 x
10 8
189 J.J. coulombs/gram. Hear
7  Thomson Thompson talk about
the size of an atom.
Examine
Thompson's 3
experiments to verify
atoms had parts.

Studied "canal rays"

J.J.
189 and found they were
Thomson
7  associated with the
proton H + .
189 Rutherfor
8 d Studied radiations
emitted from
 uranium and named
them alpha  and  be
ta.He estimated
atom size  and
concluded mass was
concentrated in the
nucleus.

Studied uranium and

thorium and called
their spontaneous
decay process
"radioactivity". She
and her husband
Marie Pierre also discovered
189 Sklodows the radioactive
8 ka Curie elements polonium
and radium. Marie
was the first person
awarded two Nobel
prizes. Video of 
Marie Curie in her lab
in 1923.

Observed
spontaneous
disintegration of
radioactive elements
into variants he called
190
Soddy "isotopes" or totally
0
new
elements, discovered
"half-life", made
initial calculations on
energy released
during decay.

used the idea of

190 Max quanta (discrete units
0 Planck of energy) to explain
hot glowing matter.

190 Nagaoka Postulated a

 "Saturnian" model of
the atom with flat
rings of electrons
3 revolving around a
positively charged
particle.

Discovered that
inert gases had a
190 stable electron
Abegg
4 configuration which
lead to their
chemical inactivity.
190 Albert Published the famous
5 Einstein equation E=mc 2

Developed an
electrical device
190 Hans
(Geiger Müller tube)
6 Geiger
to "click" when hit
with alpha particles.

Oil drop
experiment determin
ed the charge
190 R.A. (e=1.602 x 10 -19
9  Millikan coulomb) and the
mass (m = 9.11 x 10
-28 gram) of an
electron. 

Using alpha particles

as atomic bullets,
probed the atoms in a
piece of thin (0.00006
cm) gold foil . He
Ernest established that the
191
Rutherfor nucleus was: very
1 
d dense,very small and
positively charged. He
also assumed that the
electrons were
located outside the
nucleus. 

191 H.G.J. Using x-ray tubes,

 determined the
charges on the nuclei
of most atoms. He
wrote"The atomic
number of an
element is equal to
the number of
4  Moseley protons in the
nucleus". This work
was used to
reorganize the
periodic table based
upon atomic number
instead of atomic
mass.

Discovered the
191 existence of isotopes
Aston
9  through the use of
a mass spectrograph. 

Developed an
explanation of 
atomic structure that
underlies regularities 
192 Niels of the periodic table
2 Bohr of elements.
His atomic model had
atoms built up of
sucessive orbital
shells of electrons.

Discovered that
electrons had a dual
nature-similar to both
192
de Broglie particles and
3 
waves. Particle/wave
duality. Supported
Einstein. 

192 Heisenbe Described  atoms by

7 rg means of formula 
connected to  the
frequencies of
spectral lines.
Proposed Principle of
 Indeterminancy - you
can not know both
the position and
velocity of a particle.

Built an early linear
accelerator and
192 Cockcroft bombarded lithium
9 / Walton with protons to
produce alpha
particles
Viewed electrons as
continuous clouds
193 Schroding and introduced
0  er "wave mechanics" as
a mathematical
model of the atom. 

Proposed anti-
particles  . Anderson
discovered the anti-
193 electron (positron) in
Paul Dirac
0 1932 and
Segre/Chamberlain
detected the anti-
proton in 1955..

Using alpha particles

discovered a neutral
atomic particle with a
193 James
mass close to a
2  Chadwick
proton. Thus was
discovered the
neutron. 

193 Lise Conducted

8 Meitner,  experiments verifying
that  heavy elements
Hahn , capture neutrons and
Strassma form unstable
n products which
undergo fission.  This
process ejects more
neutrons continuing
the fission chain
 reaction.

Synthesized 6
transuranium
194
Glenn elements and
1-
Seaborg suggested a change in
51
the layout of the
periodic table.

Conducted the first

controlled chain
194 Enrico
reaction releasing
2 Fermi
energy from the
atoms nucleus.

Follow this link to

New
195 current theories
findings/
0's - about atomic
particles
stucture.