AMITY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

SECTOR - 1, VASUNDHARA
STRUCTURE OF ATOM
HAND OUT
ATOMIC MODELS
Ernest Rutherford and his co-workers were working in the area of radioactivity. They were
studying the effect of alpha (α) particles on the matter. The alpha particles are helium nuclei, which
can be obtained by the removal of two electrons from the helium atom. In 1910, Hans Geiger
(Rutherford’s technician) and Ernest Marsden (Rutherford’s student) performed the famous α-ray
scattering experiment. This led to the failure of Thomson’s model of the atom. Let us learn about
this experiment.
α-Ray scattering experiment
In this experiment, a stream of α particle from a radioactive source was directed on a thin (about
0.00004 cm thick) piece of gold foil. According to Thomson’s model, it was expected that the
alpha particles would just pass straight through the gold foil and could be detected by a
photographic plate placed behind the foil. But the actual results of the experiment were quite
surprising. It was observed that:
(i) Most of the α-particles passed straight through the gold foil.
(ii) Some of the α-particles were deflected by small angles.
(iii) A few particles were deflected by large angles.
(iv)About 1 in every 12000 particles experienced a rebound.
The results of α-ray scattering experiment were explained by Rutherford in 1911 and another
model of the atom was proposed. According to Rutherford’s model, an atom contains a dense and
positively charged region located at its centre; it was called as the nucleus, all the positive charge
of an atom and most of its mass was contained in the nucleus. The rest of an atom must be empty
space which contains the much smaller and negatively charged electrons.
 Schematic Figure shows Rutherford’s Experiment

On the basis of the proposed model, the experimental observations in the scattering experiment
could be explained. The α particles passing through the atom in the region of the electrons would
pass straight without any deflection. Only those particles that come in the close vicinity of the
positively charged nucleus get deviated from their path. Very few α-particles, those that collide
with the nucleus, would face a rebound.On the basis of his model, Rutherford was able to predict
the size of the nucleus.He estimated that the radius of the nucleus was at least 1/10000 times
smaller than that of the radius of the atom.
Based on his observations, Rutherford proposed the following structural features of an
atom:

● Most of the atom’s mass and its entire positive charge are confined to a small core, called nucleus.
The positively charged particle is called proton.
● Most of the volume of an atom is empty space.
● The number of negatively charged electrons dispersed outside the nucleus is same as a number of
positively charge in the nucleus. It explains the overall electrical neutrality of an atom.
 Rutherford’s Model of an Atom
Limitations of Rutherford’s model
According to Rutherford’s model, the negatively charged electrons revolve in circular orbits
around the positively charged nucleus. However, according to Maxwell’s electromagnetic
theory, if a charged particle accelerates around another charged particle then it would
continuously lose energy in the form of radiation. This suggests that loss of energy would slow
down the speed of the electron. Therefore, the electron is expected to move in a spiral fashion
around the nucleus and eventually fall into the nucleus.

In Rutherford’s model of the atom, an accelerating electron should gradually lose energy and
eventually spiral into the positively charged nucleus.
In other words, the atom must not be stable. However, we know that the atom is stable and such a
collapse does not occur. Thus, Rutherford’s model is unable to explain the stability of the atom.
We know that an atom may contain a number of electrons. The Rutherford’s model also does not
say anything about the way the electrons are distributed around the nucleus. Another drawback of
Rutherford’s model was its inability to explain the relationship between the atomic mass and
atomic number (the number of protons).
 Niel’s Bohr proposed the Bohr Model of the Atom in 1913. As the Bohr model is a modification
of the earlier Rutherford Model, some people call Bohr’s Model the Rutherford-Bohr Model. The
Bohr Model is a planetary model in which the negatively-charged electrons orbit a small,
positively-charged nucleus similar to the planets orbiting the Sun (except that the orbits are not
planar). The gravitational force of the solar system is mathematically akin to the Coulomb
(electrical) force between the positively-charged nucleus and the negatively-charged electrons.
Bohr depicted the atom as a tiny, spherical body which consists of the nucleus at the center and
negatively charged electrons revolving around the nucleus in a certain path known as orbit.
In order to explain the stability of an atom, Neils Bohr gave a new arrangement of electrons in the
atom in 1913. According to Bohr, the electrons could revolve around the nucleus in only
certain orbits called energy levels, each having a different radius. When an electron revolves in a
particular orbit or energy level around the nucleus, it does not radiate energy (lose energy) even
though it has accelerated motion around the nucleus.

Bohr Atomic Model

● An atom is made up of three particles – electrons, protons, and Electrons have a negative charge
and protons have a positive charge whereas neutrons have no charge. They are neutral. Due to the
presence of an equal number of negative electrons and positive protons, the atom as a whole is
electrically neutral.
● The protons and electrons are located in a small nucleus at the center of the atom. Due to the
presence of protons, the nucleus is positively charged.
● The electrons revolve rapidly around the nucleus in fixed circular paths called energy levels or
shells. The ‘energy levels’ or ‘shells’ or ‘orbits’ are represented in two ways: either by the numbers
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 or by letters K, L, M, N, O, and The energy levels are counted from the center
outwards.

●
 Arrangement of orbits around the nucleus

● Each energy level is associated with a fixed amount of energy. The energy of an electron in a
certain orbit remains constant. As long as it remains in that orbit, it neither emits nor absorbs
energy. These are termed stationary states or main energy states.
● The shell nearest to the nucleus has minimum energy and the shell farthest from the nucleus has
maximum energy.
● Bohr proposed that the angular momentum of an electron is quantized. Thus, the motion of an
electron is restricted to those orbits where its angular momentum is an integral multiple of h/2π,
where h is Planck’s constant.
● Thus we have the relationship mvr = nh/2π, where m is mass of the electron, v is the velocity of
electron of said orbit; r is the radius of that orbit, n is a simple integer.
● The stationary states or allowed energy levels are only those where n = 1, 2, 3,…… This is called
the Bohr quantum condition.
● The energy of an electron changes only when it moves from one orbit to another. An electronic
transition from an inner orbit to outer orbit involves absorption of energy. Similarly, when an
electron jumps from an outer orbit to inner orbit it releases energy, which is equal to the difference
between the two energy levels.
● The energy thus released in the form of a radiation of a certain frequency appears in the form a
line in the atomic spectrum. If the energy of an electron in the outer orbit (n2) is E2 and energy of
an electron in the inner orbit (n1) is E1 then E2 – E1 = ΔE = hν.
● The value of n could be small integers 1, 2, 3 and these correspond to the first, second, third, and
so on. Quantum states are shells for the electron; n is termed as a principal quantum number.
● This model of the atom was able to explain the stability of the atom. It also explained the
phenomenon of atomic spectra and ionization of gases.

Based on this theory, Bohr calculated the radii of the various orbits and the energies associated
with the electrons present in those shells.
Problems with the Bohr model

● It violates the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle because it considers electrons to have both a
known radius and orbit.
● The Bohr Model provides an incorrect value for the ground state orbital angular momentum.
● It makes poor predictions regarding the spectra of larger atoms.
● It does not predict the relative intensities of spectral lines.
● The Bohr Model does not explain the fine structure and hyperfine structure in spectral lines.
● It does not explain the Zeeman Effect (effect of magnetic field on the spectra of atoms).