Attachment #17: Lesson Outline

THE ATOM: FROM IDEA TO THEORY

Ancient Ideas about the Nature of Matter
1. Thales (625-547 BC)
- all matter is made of what was called ‘primal matter’ and thought this as water, perhaps
because water is found everywhere.
2. Anaximenes
- thought that air was the primal matter
3. Heraclitus
- had the idea that fire must be the primal matter since it represents the changing world
4. Aristotle
- proposed that all substances are composed of four elements – FIRE, AIR, WATER, AND EARTH
– in various proportions
5. Democritus and his teacher Leucippus
- proposed that all things are composed of very small bits of matter that cannot be further
divided. This indivisible piece is the atom (from the Greek word atomos which means
indivisible)

The Theoretical View of an Atom

*It took more than 2000 years for the ancient philosophers’ idea about atoms to evolve into a theory.

6. John Dalton (1803) – Great Britain

- put together many observations and results of numerous experiments made by other scientists
and formulated the ATOMIC THEORY. The postulates of his theory which he wrote in his book
entitled A New System of Chemical Philosophy published in 1808 are the following:
a. All matter is composed of indestructible atoms that Dalton imagined as tiny, hard spheres.
b. The atoms of one element are identical; the atoms of different elements are different and
have different properties (including different masses).
a. When matter undergoes changes, whether physical or chemical, the atoms are merely
rearranged. No atom is created or destroyed.
b. Atoms of different elements combine in a definite ratio of small whole numbers to form
compounds.

***The validity of the atomic theory is strengthened when it is used to explain may
observations about matter such as:
a. Unique behavior of each element
All atoms of the same element, regardless of size or source, have the same
properties. This is explained by the postulate that all atoms of a given element are
identical but different from those any other element.

a. Compounds have a definite composition, regardless of how the samples were

prepared or where they originated.

b. During a physical or chemical change, the total mass of all substances before and the total
mass of all substances after the change are the same.
 According to the atomic theory, during changes, only rearrangement of atoms take place
(Postulate 3). Since no new atoms are created and no atoms are destroyed, the total mass remains
the same (Law of Conservation of Mass).

The Atomic Structure

Features:
1. atoms consist of smaller particles (subatomic particles)
2. some of these particles carry an electrical charge.

1. Sir Humphry Davy

- discovered that some compounds like potassium carbonate decomposed when electricity
was passed through their solutions. The elements potassium and sodium were discovered
and first produced through this process.
2. Michael Faraday
- measured the masses of the elements produced and found these to be proportional to the
electrical charge passed through the sample.
3. William Crookes
- using a vacuum discharged tube (Crookes’ Tube), he showed that there was some kind of
matter coming from the cathode (negative electrode) that caused the greenish glow from
the glass in the anode (positive electrode).
- he discovered the cathode rays and the element Thallium.
4. Sir Joseph John Thomson
- established the particle nature of cathode rays. He managed to determine the velocity and
the ratio of electric charge to mass:
*e/m = -1.759 x 108 C/g
- he concluded that cathode rays are negatively charged fundamental particles found in all
atoms, now called ELECTRONS.
- suggested that the atom was composed of a positively charged sphere in which the electrons
are loosely embedded on the surface (Raisin Bread-Model).
5. Robert Andrews Millikan
- determined the charge of a single electron through the famous “oil-Drop Experiment”
* e- = -1.602 x 10-19 C
6. Eugen Goldstein
- discovered new particles which he called canal rays, now called ions.
7. Wilhelm Roentgen
- discovered the x-rays which brought about the discovery of radioactivity
8. Henri Becquerel
- discovered radioactive rays which he called Becquerel rays.
- he became the Father of Modern Atomic and Nuclear Physics
- he discovered radioactivity
9. Pierre and Marie Curie
- succeeded in isolating Polonium and Radium
10. Ernest Rutherford
- he completely unraveled the nature of Becquerel rays and discovered that the rays are of three
types:
a. Alpha (α) = + b. Beta (ß) = - c. Gamma (λ) = 0
- he tested Thomson’s model of an atom through the Alpha-scattering experiment.
Results:
 a. Most of the alpha particles passed through undeflected.
b. A few passed through with large angles of deflection.
c. A few bounced back from the direction from which they came.
- his discovery gave birth to the nuclear atom.

***he pictured an atom as mostly empty space and that there is a tiny, positive central
core called the nucleus where the mass of the atom is concentrated.

***his discovery opened the door for the investigation of the nucleus.

Nuclear charge – the basis of the atom’s individuality.

- he established that the positive charge is due to the presence of a fundamental particle called
proton.

11. James Chadwick

- discovered the neutron which is uncharged and has a mass roughly equal to the mass of the
protons.

Particle Charge Mass

e- -1 0.00055
P+ +1 1.00723
n0 0 1.00866

12. E.J. Dempster & S.W. Aston

- found out that there are some elements of the same atoms that have different atomic mass
but different atomic number.

Isotopes – atoms of the same element but different masses

ex: Carbon 12 – Carbon 14
a. Stable Isotopes – isotopes that do not undergo radioactivity which explain why they persist
and exist in nature. These are the elements that occur naturally on earth.

b. Unstable Isotopes – exhibit radioactivity and thus are known as radioisotopes (Natural or
artificial). They spontaneously emit radiation (alpha, beta, gamma).

Radioactive decay – spontaneous change in the nucleus of an unstable radioisotope to produce a

new one.

ex: Alpha emission

212 208 4

84 Po 82 Pb + He
2

(naturally occurring isotope)

Beta emissions
98 98 0
 Tc
43 Ru +
44 -1 e

(artificial isotope)

Uses of Isotopes:
1. Gamma rays obtained from Co-60 – Used to cure cancer
2. Tiny seed of radioisotopes like P-32 & Sr-90 – inserted by needle to cure skin cancer and eye
defects
3. Gamma rays – used to sterilize medical instruments and dressings to kill harmful bacteria.
4. C-14 – used to find the age of ancient materials which include dead plants, wood, teeth, bone,
fossils, and carbon related compounds.

Carbon dating – the process of determining the age of ancient materials.

CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE ATOM
YEAR PROPONENT DISCOVERIES/CONTRIBUTIONS
Matter is composed of tiny particles called atoms.
1803 John Dalton Atomic Theory

1895 Wilhelm Roentgen X-rays

Found out that electrons were given off when cathodes

1897 JJ Thomson were heated.
He proved that the electron was negatively charged.

Determined the atomic numbers of different elements by

1913 Henry Moseley measuring their x-rays.

1919 Ernest Rutherford Proposed the nuclear model of the atom

1924 Louis de Broglie Proposed that electrons and other particles have wave
properties

1931 Harold Urey Discovered and isolated heavy hydrogen called

deuterium, 21H

1932 James Chadwick Discovered and determined the mass of uncharged

particle called neutron

1932 Carl Anderson Discovered the positive electron called positron

Predicted the existence of the meson, a particle needed

1935 Hideki Yukawa to hold protons and neutrons together in the nucleus. It
is said to be hundred times heavier than the electrons.

1938 Enrico Fermi Investigated the fission of radioactive uranium.

1955 Emilio Serge Proposed the existence of anti-proton, a negative proton.
 1964 Brookhaven Lab. Verified and proposed the existence of the omega
(USA) particle
Proposed the Quark Theory. This theory proposed the
1964 Murray Gell-man & existence of quarks. Antiquarks, leptons and antileptons.
George Zweig
Quark was discovered which was already been predicted
1974 by Gell-man as one of the truly fundamental particles of
an atom.
1983 Discovery of another fundamental particles called W-
vector boson.

General Information:
Electrons, protons and neutrons were once thought to be the fundamental constituents that make up
the marvelously complex world we live in including ourselves. But the proton and the neutron are not
considered as fundamental particles because they consist of smaller particles called quarks.
In addition to the electron (which actually belongs to a group of particles called leptons) and the quarks
(of which there are six types of flavors). There are other particles that make up matter.
The fundamental particles, as described in the Standard Model of Particle (or quantum)physics are
classified into two main groups: FERMIONS – the particles of matter, and BOSONS – the particles that transmit
forces.

The Fundamental Particles

Fermions – matter particles – total number is 24

-leptons -- 6 flavors +anti-particles = 12 (the 6 flavors are the electron,
electron neutrino, muon, muon neutrino, tau, and tau neutrino)
-quarks – 6 flavors + antiparticles = 12 (up, down, charm, strange, top,
and bottom)

Bosons (force carrier particles) = 12 particles

-gluons – 8 species; mediate the strong nuclear force
-Weak Gauge bosons – 3 species; mediate the weak nuclear force
-photon – 1 species; mediates the electromagnetic force

Other Theories that Predicts the Existence of other Bosons and Fermions

1. Electroweak Theory – predicts the Higgs Bosons

2. Quantum Gravity Theory – predicts the boson gravitation
3. Supersymmetry Theory – predicts the fermion gravitino.
ELECTRONS IN ATOMS

1. Christian Huygens
- proposed the first scientific study on the nature of light. He stated that light like sound is a
wave motion.
2. Sir Isaac Newton
- he opposed the idea of Huygens. He formulated the particle theory of light which states that
 light is made up of very fast and very small particles which travel in straight lines.
3. James Maxwell
- he predicted that an alternating current in a circuit would radiate energy in the form of
electromagnetic waves traveling through a vacuum at the speed of light.
*light is an electromagnetic radiation
4. Heinrich Hertz
- demonstrated by experiment the electromagnetic nature of light
5. Max Planck
-proposed that the energy emitted is in the form of a mixture of electromagnetic waves and is
occurring in packets or pieces (quanta)
-proposed the quantum hypothesis
6. Albert Einstein
- proponent of the photoelectric effect which states that electrons are ejected when light of a
particular wavelength strikes a metal surface.
7. Loui de Broglie
- proposed a dualistic nature of light
*There is a relationship between frequency and energy of photons with the wave nature of
radiation.
8. Niels Bohr
- took the nuclear atom of Rutherford, dressed it with Planck’s Quantum attire, borrowed
Newton’s Laws of motion, and proposed the first workable theory of atomic structure.

Ground State – a state where electrons normally exists (lowest energy state)
Excited State – a higher energy state of an electron
Excitation – achieved by supplying energy to the atom from an external source.

9. Arnold Sommerfeld
-introduced the concept of elliptical orbits to explain the splitting of the spectral lines
10. Erwin Schrodinger
-produced a mathematical theory of wave mechanics

***Wave functions or orbitals – solutions of wave equations

Orbits

Four Quantum Numbers: the PIN of the Electrons

-serves as the “address” of an electron in terms of its main energy levels, sublevels, orbital and
spin. To determine the quantum numbers of a certain element or atom, there are rules to be
followed and these rules are:
a. Aufbau Principle (Afbau means building up in German)
The sublevels are filled up in increasing energies

b .Hund’s Rule of Multiplicity (Frederick Hund)

-states that the electrons must be distributed among the orbitals of a sublevel such that
the maximum number of unpaired electrons have parallel spins.
-when electrons enter a sublevel containing more than one orbitals, the electrons
spread out occupying all the available orbital first with the same spin before pairing up
with opposite spin.
c. Pauli Exclusion Principle: (Wolfgang Pauli)
States that no two electrons can have the same set of quantum numbers. Only two
electrons may exist in the same orbital, and these electrons must have opposite spins.