CHAPTER 4 :

ATOMIC STRUCTURE & ENERGY

LEVELS IN AN ATOM
Thompson’s Model
In Thomson’s model, the atom is
composed of electrons surrounded
by a soup of positive charge to
balance the electrons’ negative
charges, like negatively charged
“plums” surrounded by positively
charged “pudding”.
RUTHERFORD’S MODEL
 Earnest Rutherford (1911) and his
students Hans Geiger and Earnest
Marsden performed a critical experiment
showing that Thompson’s model could
not be correct.
 “GOLD FOIL EXPERIMENT”
RUTHERFORD’S EXPERIMENT
 In this experiment, high energy α-
particles from a radioactive source
were directed at a thin foil (about
100nm thickness) of gold. A
circular, fluorescent zinc sulfide
screen was present around the thin
gold foil. A tiny flash of light was
produced at a point on the screen
whenever α-particles struck it.
 OBSERVATIONS :

Based on Thomson’s model, the mass of every atom in the gold foil should be evenly
spread over the entire atom. Therefore, when α-particles hit the foil, it is expected
that they would slow down and change directions only by small angles as they pass
through the foil. However, the results from Rutherford’s experiment were
unexpected

 Most of the α-particles passed undeflected through the foil.

 A small number of α-particles were deflected by small angles.
 Very few α-particles (about 1 in 20,000) bounced back.
Based on the above results, Rutherford made the
following conclusions about the structure of the atom:

 Since most of the α-particles passed through the foil undeflected,

most of the space in the atom is empty.
 The deflection of a few positively charged α-particles must be
due to the enormous repulsive force. This suggests that the
positive charge is not uniformly spread throughout the atom as
Thomson had proposed. The positive charge has to be
concentrated in a very small volume to deflect the positively
charged α-particles.
 RUTHERFORD’S PLANATERY MODEL OF ATOM
• Most of the mass of the atom and the positive
charge is densely concentrated in a very small region
in the atom. Rutherford called this region
the nucleus.

• Electrons surround the nucleus and move around it

at very high speeds in circular paths called orbits.
This arrangement also resembles the solar system,
where the nucleus forms the sun and the electrons
are the revolving planets. Therefore, it is also
referred to as the Planetary Model.

• Electrostatic forces of attraction hold the nucleus

and electrons together.
 Bohr Model of Hydrogen Atom
Neils Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made
foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure
and quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in
Physics in 1922.
Neil Bohr proposed the Bohr Model of the Atom in 1915.
Because the Bohr Model is a modification of the earlier
Rutherford Model, some people call Bohr’s Model the
Rutherford-Bohr Model.
 The modern model of the atom is based on quantum
mechanics
An atom emits photon when its energy change
From E2 to E1
hf= E2 – E1
Angular momentum, L was quantized
𝑛ℎ
L = mvr = , n = 1,2,3
2π

r = radius of orbit
h = Plank’s constant
BOHR’S POSTULATE
Electrons move about the nucleus in circular orbits but only certain
orbits are allowed.
An electron in each orbit would have a definite energy and move in
the orbit without radiating energy.
Light is emitted only when an electron jumps from a higher(upper)
stationary state to lower energy and energy is conserved.
𝑛ℎ
Electron’s angular momentum, l is quantized and equal to the .
2π
 CONCEPT OF EXCITATION & IONIZATION

Atoms can make transitions between the orbits allowed by quantum

mechanics by ABSORBING or EMITTING exactly the energy difference
between the orbits.
E∞

 Definition : Gain or loss of electrons and acquire a net electrical

charge

Ionization energy
The minimum energy required to remove an electron from the ground state of
an atom.

Formula for Ionization Energy = E∞ - Eground state /excited state

FACTORS AFFECTING THE SIZE OF IONIZATION
ENERGY

1.The charge on the nucleus

2.The distance of the electron on the
nucleus
3.The number of electrons between the
outer electrons and the nucleus