Atomic Structure Timeline

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Democritus (400 B.C.)

• Proposed that matter was

composed of tiny indivisible
particles

• Not based on experimental

data

• Greek: atomos
Alchemy (next 2000 years)
• Mixture of science and mysticism.
• Lab procedures were developed, but alchemists did not
perform controlled experiments like true scientists.
John Dalton (1807)

• British Schoolteacher
– based his theory on others’
experimental data

• Billiard Ball Model

– atom is a
uniform,
solid sphere
John Dalton
Dalton’s Four Postulates
1. Elements are composed of small indivisible
particles called atoms.
2. Atoms of the same element are identical.
Atoms of different elements are different.
3. Atoms of different elements combine together
in simple proportions to create a compound.
4. In a chemical reaction, atoms are rearranged,
but not changed.
Henri Becquerel (1896)

• Discovered radioactivity
– spontaneous emission of
radiation from the nucleus
• Three types:
– alpha () - positive
– beta () - negative
– gamma () - neutral
J. J. Thomson (1903)

• Cathode Ray Tube

Experiments
– beam of negative particles

• Discovered Electrons
– negative particles within
the atom

• Plum-pudding Model
J. J. Thomson (1903)

Plum-pudding Model
– positive sphere
(pudding) with
negative electrons
(plums) dispersed
throughout
Ernest Rutherford (1911)

• Gold Foil Experiment

• Discovered the nucleus
– dense, positive charge in
the center of the atom

• Nuclear Model
Ernest Rutherford (1911)

• Nuclear Model
– dense, positive nucleus surrounded
by negative electrons
Niels Bohr (1913)

• Bright-Line Spectrum
– tried to explain presence
of specific colors in
hydrogen’s spectrum

• Energy Levels
– electrons can only exist in
specific energy states

• Planetary Model
Niels Bohr (1913)

Bright-line spectrum

• Planetary Model
– electrons move in circular
orbits within specific
energy levels
Erwin Schrödinger (1926)

• Quantum mechanics
– electrons can only exist in
specified energy states

• Electron cloud model

– orbital: region around the
nucleus where e- are likely
to be found
Erwin Schrödinger (1926)

Electron Cloud Model (orbital)

• dots represent probability of finding an e-
not actual electrons
James Chadwick (1932)

• Discovered neutrons
– neutral particles in the
nucleus of an atom

• Joliot-Curie
Experiments
– based his theory on their
experimental evidence
James Chadwick (1932)

Neutron Model
• revision of Rutherford’s Nuclear Model
 1964
Murray Gell-Mann & George Zweig

Murray Gell- Mann was an American physicist who received a Nobel Prize for his
theory on elementary particles. He also found that all the elements of an atom are held
together by quarks. To find this, he blasted high speed electrons into a hydrogen atom.
George Zweig proposed the existence of quarks. He thought of them as aces, because he
guessed there were four quarks in every atom.
Now, in the same year, both these guys proposed the idea of quarks. They tested
electrical charges, and that how the numbers for quarks came about.

http://www.profes.net/rep_imagenes/Monograf/NF1990a.jpg
http://panda.unm.edu/images/people/faculty/gell_mann_murray.jpg
 History of the Atom - Timeline
Antoine Lavoisier
makesJ.J. Thomson
a substantial Niels Bohr
number discovers the
of contributions proposes
electron
to the and
field of James
the Bohr Chadwick
proposes the
Chemistry Model in discovered
Plum Pudding
1766 – 1844 1913 the neutron
Model 1871
in 1897
– 1937
1887 – 1961 in in 1932
460 – 370 BC

1700s
1800s
1900s
0

Erwin
Democritus John DaltonErnest RutherfordSchrodinger
proposes proposes performs
his the Gold Foil
describes
the 1st atomic atomic theory
Experiment
in in 1909
the electron
1891 – 1974

theory 1743 – 1794 1803 cloud in 1926

1885 – 1962

1856 – 1940
 Progression of the Atomic Model

-
- -
- -
- -
- --+-
- +- - Electron Cloud

- -
-
-

The structure of an atom, according to: Democritus

James
Ernest
Erwin
Neils
J.J. Bohr&
Schrodinger
Chadwick
Rutherford
Thomson
John Dalton