Dalton's Atomic Theory

1) All matter is made of atoms. Atoms are indivisible and

indestructible.

2) All atoms of a given element are identical in mass and properties

3) Compounds are formed by a combination of two or more different

kinds of atoms.

4) A chemical reaction is a rearrangementof atoms.

Modern atomic theory is, of course, a little more involved than Dalton's theory but the
essence of Dalton's theory remains valid. Today we know that atoms can be destroyed via
nuclear reactions but not by chemical reactions. Also, there are different kinds of atoms
(differing by their masses) within an element that are known as "isotopes", but isotopes of an
element have the same chemical properties.

Many heretofore unexplained chemical phenomena were quickly explained by Dalton with
his theory. Dalton's theory quickly became the theoretical foundation in chemistry.

Rutherford Atomic Model Experiment

In Rutherford’s experiment, he bombarded high energy streams of α-particles on a thin gold foil
of 100 nm thickness. The streams of α-particles were directed from a radioactive source. He
conducted the experiment to study the deflection produced in the trajectory of α-particles after
interaction with the thin sheet of gold. To study the deflection, he placed a screen made up of zinc
sulfide around the gold foil. The observations made by Rutherford contradicted the plum pudding
model given by J.J. Thomson.

Observations of Rutherford Model Experiment

On the basis of the observations made during the experiment, Rutherford concluded that

 Major space in an atom is empty – A large fraction of α-particles passed through the
gold sheet without getting deflected. Therefore, the major part of an atom must be empty.

 The positive charge in an atom is not distributed uniformly and it is concentrated in a

very small volume – Few α-particles when bombarded were deflected by the gold sheet.
They were deflected minutely and at very small angles. Therefore he made the above
conclusion.

 Very few α-particles had deflected at large angles or deflected back. Moreover, very
few particles had deflected at 180o. Therefore, he concluded that the positively charged
particles covered a small volume of an atom in comparison to the total volume of an
atom.

Nucleus
a nucleus is the positively charged center of the atom consisting of protons and neutrons. It's
also known as the "atomic nucleus". Protons and neutrons are held together by the strong
nuclear force. Electrons, although attracted to the nucleus, move so fast they fall around it or
orbit it at a distance. The positive electrical charge of the nucleus comes from the protons,
while the neutrons have no net electrical charge. Nearly all the mass of an atom is contained
within the nucleus, since protons and neutrons have much more mass than electrons. The
number of protons in an atomic nucleus defines its identity as an atom of a specific element.
The number of neutrons determines which isotope of an element the atom is.

Electron

An electron is a stable negatively charged component of an atom. Electrons exist outside of

and surrounding the atom nucleus. Each electron carries one unit of negative charge (1.602 x
10-19 coulomb) and has a very small mass as compared with that of a neutron or proton.
Electrons are much less massive than protons or neutrons. The mass of an electron is 9.10938
x 10-31 kg. This is about 1/1836 the mass of a proton.

The Size of an atom

An atom is one of the basic units of matter. Everything around us is made up of atoms. An
atom is a million times smaller than the thickest human hair. The diameter of an atom ranges
from about 0.1 to 0.5 nanometers (1 × 10−10 m to 5 × 10−10 m).

All the atoms of an element are not alike, however. For example, a second kind of hydrogen
exits which is present in every sample of the gas no matter where it is obtained. It weighs
twice as much as the more common hydrogen and is called deuterium or heavy hydrogen.
The diameter of an atom for this type of hydrogen differs from the more common type.

Atoms vary greatly in weight, but they are all about the same size. For example, an atom of
plutonium (one of the heaviest elements) weighs more than 200 times as much as a hydrogen
atom (the lightest element), but the diameter of a plutonium atom is only about 3 times that of
a hydrogen atom.