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ATOMS

12.1 THOMSON'S MODEL OF AN ATOM perturbations of atoms cause vibrations of the electrons
1. Describe Thomson's model of an atom. Why was
about their equilibrium positions. These vibrating
electrons emit electromagnetic radiations of their O'hTl
this model discarded later on ?
frequency of oscillations.
Thomson's model of an atom. in 1898, J.J. Thomson
Failure of Thomson's model. Thomson model
proposed that an atom is a sphere of positively charged
remained popular till about 1911 and was discarded
matter with electrons embedded in it. The positive
later on due to the following drawbacks :
charge is uniformly distributed over the entire atom.
The arrangement of electrons inside the continuous 1. It could not explain the origin of several spectral
positive charge is similar to that of the seeds in a series in the case of hydrogen and other atoms.
watermelon or the plums in a pudding. That is why 2. It failed to explain the large angle scattering of
Thomson' s atomic model is also known as plum a-particles in Rutherford's experiment.
pudding model. The electrons are arranged in such a
rn~ncr that their mutual repulsions are balanced by
12.2 ALPHA PARTICLE SCATTERING
· h the positive ly charged matter.
their attract'ions .wit EXPERIMENT
Thus thc atom as a whole is stable and neutrnl. 2. Describe Rutherford's experiment on the scattering
of a-particles by a nucleus. Expla in the observations and
Thomson's model was able to explain with some
suc~ess th e procetiSCH like dwmical reaction and
conclusions of the experimen t.
·
rad1oacti vc d 1·smtcgration Scattering of a -particles _: Geiger-M~rsden
. To explain the ob~c rved
experiment. On tht• s u~~es ti,m 0 t Rutherfo rd, his two
spectra of elements, Thom son aRRumcd that slight
a!'l!H)cia tcs H. Geiser ,md [. Mu rsd1m, in 1911, perform~d
...e 0 o c x pe rimentfl on the scJttt'rin~ of a -p~rt~cles f~om thtn
e oe 0 e foil s and llb t,lirwd an important insight into the
·0 ·
e eee0 ee
s tru cture of the atom .
l'oslti vely , 1\11 a-11article is n l1dium ivri, i.e., a helium atom from
.e
·
e .e ee
·e.
charg,•d
mutter
whiclr t,oth tlie electrons llave been removed. It has charge
0 :Er:: ··
•~:e equal to + 2e and its mass is nearly four times the mass
of a proton.
F'19· 12.1 Plum pudding model of an atom.
 12. 2 PHY SIC S XII

Experimental arrangement. A sch 2. A few a-p arti cles, abo ut 1 in 8,000, get de flect ed
ema tic arra nge -
men t of the Gei ger- Ma rsde n exp erim thro u gh 90 ° o r mo re.
ent is sho wn in
Fig. 12.2. A radi oac tive sou rce of a-p . 2145 ·
3. Occ asio nall y, an a-p arti cle
arti cles like 83 1 get s reb oun ded frorn
is enc lose d in thick lead block, pro vid
ed wit h a nar row the gol d foil, suff erin g a def lect ion
ope ning . The a-p arti cles from of nea rlyl So a.
thi s sou rce are Sig nifi can ce of
coll ima ted into a nar row bea m thro the resu lt. Rut her ford concl uded
ugh a nar row slit. th e foll owi ng
The bea m is allo wed to fall on imp orta nt fact s abo ut an ato m :
a thin gold foil of
thickness 2.1 x 10- 7 m. The a-p arti 1. As mo s t o f the a.-p arti cles pas
cles sca tter ed in s_stt:aight through
different dire ctio ns are obs erv ed the foi l, so m ost o f the s pac e w1t
wit h the hel p of a hm ato ms mu st
rota tabl e detector whi ch con sist s be e mp ty.
of a zinc sulp hid e
screen and a mic roscope. Wh ene 2. To ex plai n larg e ang le sca tter
ver an a-p arti cle ing of o.-p articles
stri kes the scre en, it pro duc es
a tiny flash, or Rut her ford sug ges ted tha t alJ the
scintillation , whi ch is view ed thro pos itive char g~
ugh the mic rosc ope . and the ma ss of the ato m is con
ln thi s way , the num ber of a-p arti cen trat ed in a
cles sca tter ed at ver y sma ll reg ion , call ed the
diff eren t ang les can be cou nte d. The nuc leu s of the
who le app ara tus ato m.
is enc lose d in an eva cua ted
cha mb er to avo id 3. The nuc leus is sur rou nde d by
sca tter ing of a-p arti cles by air mol a clou d of electrons
ecu les. wh ose tota l neg ativ e cha rge is equ
al to the total
Coll imat or Mic rosc ope pos itiv e cha rge on the nuc leu s so
tha t the ator--
as a wh ole is elec tric all y neu tral
.
The sca tter ing of the a-p arti cles
Zinc sulp hide is due to tr;::
scre en Cou lom bic rep ulsi on bet wee n the pos
itivelv chargec
Scat tere d a-p arti cles and the nuc lei. An a-p
arti cle like 1 o; 1
a-pa rticl es pas sing thro ugh the ato m at larg
Rad ioac tive
e dis tan ce from the
nuc leus , exp erie nce s sma ll rep
sour ce of ulsi on and pas3c-;
alm ost und efle cted . But the a-p
a-pa rticl rs Vac uum arti cles like (2 :
(3, 3' )wh ich pas s clo ser to the nuc
cham ber leu s, exp erie nce la.:-~ t:
rep ulsi ve forc es and hen ce sca
Fig . 12. 2 a-p arti cle sca tter ing
tter thro ugh la r ; -2
exp erim ent . ang les. Ver y rare ly, an a-p arti cle
like 4 trav els head-'-~~
tow ard s the nuc leu s. The stro ng
Ob serv atio ns. As sho wn in Fig. rep ulsi ve force s10· -~
12.3, a gra ph is dow n the a-p arti cle, wh ich
dra wn bet wee n the sca tter ing ang is fina lly sto ppe d and the:'
le 0 and the num ber rep elle d bac k alo ng its orig
N( 0)o f the a-p arti cles sca tter ed at ina l p ath .
an ang le e, for a ver y
larg e num ber of a-p arti cles .
~ a-pa rticl e ,
107

106
The ore tical 2
3
~ :- S : "
,')
,.,, pred i ctio n 4 T
\
'l.l I T T I
"C i 105 + ,. , :--.Jucleus
"f -
~e Exp erim enta l d ata
..=-z
0 -0
104
... ~
~t: ~ n:i
103
:l u,.,,
z 102
Fig . 12 •4 Sca tter ing of a- par
ticles on the
10 Rut her ford mo del .
0 io 40 60 80 IUU 120 14U
Scat te ring a n~lc O (in degr ees) _. 12. 3 DISTANCE OF CLOSEST APPROAC
ESTI MAT H
 ----- fan atom. As 1t . approac h es This distance is considerably larger than the su ·
f the nucleus o I b. the radii of the gold nucleus and the a-pa rticle.
th e centre. .o e nucleus, it experiences Cou om • 1
ic
e pos1ttv . k. tic energy gets progressive y radius of a nuc~~; is of the order of a Jermi, u
th . and its me . .
repulsion . energy At a certain distance r0 1 Jermi (fm)= 10 m.
d into electnca 1 ·
converte th a-particle stops for a moment
the nucleus, e . . . tt d 12.4 IMPACT PARAMETER
from . to retrace its path, ,.e., 1t 1s sea ere
and then begins] f 1800. The distance ro is called the 4. What is meant by impact parameter ? How do
h an ang e O · · th influence the shape of the trajectory of an a-partic,
throug ., I st approaclr . At this distance 10, e
distance o, c ose .
. . . . kinetic energy of the a-particle gets its scattering from a heavy nucleus ? What is the v
enare uutJ a1 · t· I of impact parameter for a head-on collision '
. to electrostatic poten ta energy.
converte d in
-- - - Impact parameter. The
/ ' scattering of an a-particle
I \
from a nucleu s d epend s on
a -particle ,' + + ~ \ Nucleus
its distance of closes t
-----•-'"Tj. . . --;, + +:
I

I
d
+
1
I
approach to the nucleus or
on an equivalent length, Fig. 12.6 Impact
' /
\ I
'- J.. I
/
called the impact parameter pa r ameter ba nd sec
tering an gle e.
I - -~ -
'b' as shown in Fig. 12.6.

------
Fig. 12.5 Distance of closest approach.
The impact parameter is defined as t he p erpend1
cular distance of the velocity vector of the a -particlt
Now, charge on an a-particle, q1 = +2e from the centre of the nucleus, when it is Jar awa3
Charge on a scattering nucleus, q2 = + Ze from the atom.
where Z is the atomic number of foil atoms. From experiments, one can n otice the foU owir
Initial kinetic energy of a-particle, Ka =½ mv 2 points:
1. For large impact parameters, the repulsive fo re
Electrostatic P.E. of a-particle and nucleus at experienced by the a-particle is w eak (b ecaus
distance r0, of its inverse square law chara cter) and th
U = k. q1q2 = k. 2e. Ze a-particle passes almost undeflected.
ro ro 2. For small impact p a rameter, the repulsive ion:,
is large and so the a -particle is scattere(
By conservation of energy, Ka =U through large angle.
or Ka = ..!_ mv2 = k . 2 ze2 3. For a head-011 collision, when the a- particle jus:
2 ro aims at the centre of the nucleus. tht' imp -ii.-t ~lJT.11•.1:n.~
2 b = 0, smtteri11s angle e = 180 ", i.t!., ~ Ct-particle is
ro = -
2kZe
- - == - --
4k ze2 reversed bal'.k al o ng its ori_sinal path.
Ka mv 2
Thus the shape of the trajectory of the scattered
where k = __ 1 _ = 9 X 109 Nm 2 c - 2. a -particles depends on the impact parameier and the
4n e0
nature of the potential field.
Clearly, the radiu s o f the nucl e u s mus t b e s m a lle r
than r0 . Rutherford dt>du c~d the foll o w in~ rt:•L1tiL't1S.hi p
.
be twee n thl' 11n p,K t na rd me k r h c1 nd the ~ca tk nng
r
In one of the Ruthe rford 's expe rim ent s, u.-p Mticles
a ng lt' 0 :
of ene rgy 5.5 Mc V w e re used .
Ku = 5.5 5.5 x 1.6 x 10
McV c..- I.I J
f
Atomic numbe r of gold, Z = 79
~ 0
2k Ze2 l Zt'-
_ cot
__2
'i) = or /1 = - . l
Kn 4 rc Eo mv 2
19)2 2
2X9 X 10 9 X 79 X (1.6 10· . a lllt' thod for
X
= . - 13 - - ·
The scatte ring expe nme n s p
t rov1dc
. I :f
5.5 X 1.6 X }Q f the fo rces mvo vec.. .
invcs tiga tin~ the n a ture o
= 4.13 X 10- 'l
4
01 := 41 .3 hn
 12 S RUTHERFORD~ MODEL OF AN ATOM
AND ITS UMITATIONS

fCJ •u Uslo
1

l.

1.

Cotcswm Usm

linut.itions uf Rutherford s .a.tomic model :

1 t,_)
-~
ili\r..; ~ ':c.: th K.f
l - t:?-r..l=.x •-~

at

.... - - --
Fig. 12,7 Sµ:ra p.ath ~ 8
o: :'l acceierate:1 e'ect_~ ...