ATOMIC STRUCTURE

✓ Atom is the smallest constituent of ordinary matter that has the properties of a chemical
element.
✓ Every solid, liquid, gas, and plasma is composed of neutral or ionized atoms.
✓ Atoms are extremely small, typically around 100 picometers.

• Protons and neutrons collectively known as nucleons.

• 99.9% mass at nucleus.
• Each species have charge.

Atomic number = number of protons per atom

= number of electrons per neutral atom

Number of neutrons = mass number - atomic number A

or Z X
Mass number = number of protons + number of neutrons
 DALTON'S ATOMIC THEORY

• The atoms of different elements are different and can be

distinguished from one another by their atomic weights.
• All atoms of a given element are identical.
• Atoms of one element can combine with atoms of other elements to
form chemical compounds
• Atoms cannot be created, divided into smaller particles, nor destroyed Daltons model

in the chemical process.

• Elements are made of tiny particles called atoms.
Drawbacks

✓ He assumed simplest compound of two elements must be binary, formed from atoms of each
element in a 1:1 ratio.
✓ Idea about atomic weights was not very accurate.
✓ Failed to explain structure of atoms and he assumed that they are structure less particles.
✓ Failed to explain how atoms of different elements differ from one another.
J. J. THOMSON'S MODEL OF ATOM

✓ Plum pudding model/raisin pudding model

✓ Discovered electrons (all matter contains particles of the same kind).
✓ Atom was a positively charged sphere with negative electrons in it like chocolate chips.
✓ This model assumed that mass of the atom is evenly spread over the entire atom.
✓ This model could explain electrical neutrality of atom but failed to explain the observation
of Rutherford's a particle scattering experiment.
 RUTHERFORD'S ATOM MODEL

✓ Using the alpha particles Gold foil experiment

emitted by the radioactive

elements

• Passed alpha particles through gold foil and detected them as scintillations on a screen.
• Gold foil was only 0.00004 centimeter thick, a few hundreds of atoms' thick.
• During the experiment most alpha particles were pass straight through the gold foil.
• A few were scattered at large angles.
• Some even bounced back toward the source.
• Most of the mass and all the positive charge of an atom is concentrated in a small region
called nucleus. Size of the nucleus is extremely small when compared to the size of the
atom.
• The positive charge on the nucleus is due to protons. The magnitude of charge is different
for atoms of different elements.
• The nucleus is surrounded by negatively charged electrons that revolve around it at very
high speeds. The electrostatic force of attraction between the electrons and nucleus is
balanced by the centrifugal force acting on the revolving electrons.
• Total negative charge on the electrons is balanced by the total positive charge on the
nucleus so that atom on the whole is electrically neutral.
• Most of the space inside the atom is empty
 FAILURE OF RUTHERFORD'S MODEL

✓ Charged particle which is accelerating must emit energy. According' to Ruthertord's model
of atom, electrons are expected to emit energy continuously. Eventually they will fall into
the nucleus following a spiral path. Atom will collapse

✓ Couldnt explain thé stability of the atom.

✓ It also does not mention anything about the distribution of electrons around the nucleus
and also about their energy states.

✓ It also couldn't explain the existence of certain lines in spectrum of hydrogen.

Classical physics (pre 1900)

• Classical Mechanics
• Newton's Laws of Motion
• Classical Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formations
• Maxwell's equations
• Classical Thermodynamics
• Special relativity and General relativity
• Classical Chaos theory and non-linear dynamics.

Modern physics (post 1900)

• Quantum mechanics
• Relativity theory
FAILURES OF CLASSICAL PHYSICS

✓ Black body radiation

✓ The Photo electric effect
✓ The Hydrogen Atom.
Black body radiation

✓ A black body is an idealized physical body that

absorbs all incident electromagnetic radiation

Eg: small hole in a box with a blackened interior,

because practically none of the radiation entering
such a hole could escape again, and it would be
absorbed inside.

The spectrum of blackbody radiation

If the object is perfectly black (so it doesn't reflect any light), then the light that comes
from it is called blackbody radiation.
✓ Classical physics failed to explain the shape of the black body spectrum.

✓ As per classical physics, each frequency of vibration should have same energy.
✓ This is completely wrong as we see that the spectrum becomes small towards the high
frequency side
 The Photo electric effect

• When light shines on the surface of a

metallic substance, electrons in the metal
absorb the energy of the light and they
can escape from the metal's surface. This
is called the photoelectric effect.

✓ As per classical physics, if we use a dim light, it may take some time so as to eject
electrons from the metal.
✓ This is again wrong if light of a particular frequency (threshold frequency) can eject
electrons from a metal surface.

Einsteins solution
✓ Energy come in quanta likewise light in form of small packets of energy called photons.
✓ Dim light means few no .of photons. Energy of photon do not vary.
✓ If single photon have enough energy to eject electron then electrons will emitted as light fall
on surface.