History of atomic structure and sub-atomic structure

400 BC Democritus 1. state that matter consist of invisible

particles called atoms and is surrounded
by empty space (void)
2. state that all atom differs in size, shape,
mass, position and arrangement
3. state that atoms are indestructible and
unchangeable
4. he called these particles “atomos”,
meaning indivisible or uncuttable

1803 John Dalton 1. All elements (matter) are composed of

 Atomic theory of matter
 Fundamental properties of
atom
atoms.
2. Atom can neither be created nor
destroyed during chemical change.
3. All atoms of an element are alike in mass
(weight) and chemical properties, but the
atoms of different elements are different.
4. In each of their compounds, different
elements combine in a simple numerical
ratio. (atoms combine in a ratio of small
whole numbers to form compound – yt
don’t memorize)
5. The relative number and kinds of atoms
are constant in a given compound. (tyt-
don’t memorize)

1903 J.J Thompson 1. Thomson discovered electrons (which he

 Discover electron when he
was experimenting with
cathode ray tube
 Charge to mass ration(e/m)
[magnetic influence-
Wikipedia]
 Plum Pudding Model
called “corpuscles”) in atoms in 1897
2. Plum pudding model shows that the atom
composed of electrons scattered
throughout a spherical cloud of positive
charge.
 1911 Lord Ernest Rutherford
 Nuclear Model
 Gold foil experiment
 Discovery of nucleus and
protons
 Pudding model is wrong
1. Atoms have a nucleus, very small and
dense, (and hard) containing the positive
charge and most of the atom’s mass.
2. The atom consists of empty space.
3. The electrons are attracted to the nucleus
but remain far outside it. (move around
the nucleus randomly)
4. Size of a nucleus is small compare to the
size of atom.

1910 Robert Millikan Used an oil drop experiment to determine the

charge of a single electron

1913 Niels Bohr 1. State that electrons moved around the

 Planetary Model nucleus in fixed, circular orbits (electron
shell) with certain energy level.
2. Electron energy in this model was
quantised (e- could not occupy values of
energy between the fixed anergy levels)
3. The energy of an orbit is proportional to
its distance from the nucleus.
4. The energy level of an electron normally
occupies is called its ground state. But it
can move to a higher-energy, less-stable
level, or shell, by absorbing energy. This
higher-energy, less-stable state is called
the electron’s excited state.
5. An atom will absorb energy and return to
ground state by releasing photons that
have a specific amount of energy.

1926 Erwin Schrödinger Schrodinger discovered that electrons do not

move in orbits (or in a set path at all).  He
theorizes electrons move in waves, and they have
no exact location.

1932 James Chadwick James Chadwick's Atomic Theory led to the

 Discovery of neutron discovery of neutrons. In it, he bombarded a sheet
of beryllium with high energy of particles. Other
particles came loose, namely the neutron of the
atom.

http://thehistoryoftheatom.weebly.com/modern-quantum-model-schrodinger-and-chadwick.html
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/General_Chemistry/Atomic_Structure/History_of_Atomic_Structure#
The_%22Plum_Pudding%22_Atomic_Model