MODELS OF THE ATOM

PARTICLE MODEL OF MATTER:

ALL MATTER IS COMPOSED OF TINY
PARTICLES CALLED ATOMS. THE
COMBINATION OF THE TYPES OF
PARTICLES IN A SUBSTANCE DETERMINES
WHAT KIND OF MATTER IT IS .
 MODELS OF THE ATOM THROUGH
TIME:
500 BC: DEMOCRITUS
DEMOCRITUS INFERRED THAT ALL MATTER IS
COMPOSED OF SMALL, INDESTRUCTIBLE
PARTICLES HE NAMED ATOMOS. HE TAUGHT THAT
THERE WAS AN INFINITE NUMBER OF THEM, AND
THAT ATOMS DIFFERED IN THEIR SIZE, SHAPE, AND
WEIGHT. HE ALSO THOUGHT THAT DIFFERENT
SUBSTANCES WERE MADE UP OF DIFFERENT
KINDS OF ATOMS.
400 BC: ARISTOTLE
ARISTOTLE DIDN’T
BELIEVE IN ATOMS. HE
THOUGHT ALL MATTER
WAS COMPOSED OF
A COMBINATION OF
FOUR ELEMENTS- AIR,
FIRE, WATER AND
EARTH.
HIS MODEL WAS, OF
COURSE, ACCEPTED
FOR THE NEXT 2000
YEARS.
1803: JOHN DALTON
AFTER EXPERIMENTING
WITH GASES,
ESPECIALLY HYDROGEN,
METHANE AND
OXYGEN, DALTON
REDISCOVERED THE
PARTICLE THEORY OF
MATTER.
DALTON WAS ABLE TO INFER 4 THINGS ABOUT MATTER
AND ATOMS:
1. ATOMS OF ONE ELEMENT HAVE MASSES THAT ARE
DIFFERENT FROM ATOMS OF OTHER ELEMENTS
2. ATOMS OF THE SAME ELEMENT ARE IDENTICAL
3. AN ATOM OF ONE ELEMENT CANNOT BE
CHANGED INTO AN ATOM OF ANOTHER ELEMENT
4. ATOMS OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS CAN BE
COMBINED AND /OR REARRANGED TO FORM
NEW SUBSTANCES.
LIKE DEMOCRITUS, DALTON THOUGHT AN ATOM WAS
A TINY, IRREDUCIBLE SPHERE THAT COULD NOT BE
DESTROYED.
1890: JJ THOMSON
EXCITED BY THE DISCOVERY OF X-RAYS A
COUPLE OF YEARS EARLIER, THOMSON
PLAYED AROUND WITH RADIOACTIVE
WAVES AND DISCOVERED THAT ATOMS
HAVE ELECTRICAL CHARGES. NOT ONLY
THAT, HE DISCOVERED THAT THOSE
CHARGES COME FROM SMALL PARTICLES
WHICH MAKE UP PART OF THE ATOM. HE
CALLED THE PARTICLES ELECTRONS.
THOMSON THOUGHT THAT
ATOMS CONSISTED OF
+
POSITIVELY-CHARGED MAIN
BODIES, AND ATTACHED TO
THESE WERE THE NEGATIVELY- ---

CHARGED ELECTRONS (PLUM

PUDDING MODEL). HE WAS +
WRONG ABOUT THE DETAILS, + ---

BUT HIS DISCOVERY THAT +

ATOMS CAN BE BROKEN ---
DOWN INTO EVEN SMALLER
PARTS EARNED HIM SCIENCE
IMMORTALITY.
1909: EARNEST RUTHERFORD:
A STUDENT OF THOMPSON,
RUTHERFORD DESIGNED A
VERY FAMOUS EXPERIMENT
THAT PROVED THAT THE ATOM
IS MOSTLY EMPTY SPACE: HE
BOMBARDED A VERY THIN
PIECE OF GOLD LEAF WITH
ALPHA PARTICLES. ALTHOUGH
SOME ALPHA PARTICLES WERE
REFLECTED, MOST PASSED
THROUGH, PROVING THAT A
DENSE NUCLEUS WAS AT THE
CENTER OF THE ATOM, BUT
NOT MUCH ELSE.
RUTHERFORD’S MODEL OF THE ATOM
1912: NIELS BOHR
BOHR IMPROVED
RUTHERFORD’S MODEL BY
NOTICING THAT ENERGY
LEVELS IN ATOMS WENT UP
AND DOWN BY SPECIFIC,
“PRE-SET” AMOUNTS. HE
SUGGESTED THAT ELECTRONS
MOVE AROUND THE NUCLEUS
OF AN ATOM LIKE PLANETS
AROUND THE SUN, AND THAT
THEY MOVE FROM ORBIT TO
ORBIT AS THEY GAIN AND
LOSE ENERGY.
THIS MODEL OF THE ATOM IS
STILL THE MOST FAMOUS
OF ALL MODELS, AND
THOUGH IT IS NOT THE
MOST ACCURATE, IT
PREDICTS CHEMICAL
REACTIONS VERY WELL. (IT
IS IMPORTANT TO
REMEMBER, THOUGH, THAT
ATOMS PROBABLY DO NOT
REALLY LOOK LIKE THIS.)
STRUCTURE OF A BOHR ATOM:
Electron- negative charge (-)

Neutron-no charge

Proton- positive charge (+)

1920-PRESENT: PARTICLE-WAVE MODELS
SINCE BOHR, MOST SCIENTISTS HAVE TRIED TO
DESCRIBE ATOMS USING MATHEMATICAL MODELS
INSTEAD OF PHYSICAL ONES. GENERALLY, IN
THESE MODERN MODELS, THEY KEEP THE
NUCLEUS WHERE RUTHERFORD AND BOHR LEFT IT,
AND TRY TO DESCRIBE THE LOCATION AND
MOVEMENT OF ELECTRONS, WHICH CAN BEST BE
DESCRIBED AS A “CLOUD” WHICH SURROUNDS
THE NUCLEUS. EVEN MORE RECENT THEORIES
SUGGEST THAT MATTER, AT ITS MOST BASIC LEVEL,
ISN’T EVEN MADE OF PARTICLES AT ALL, BUT
CONSISTS OF REALLY TINY FIELDS OF VIBRATING
ENERGY.
WAVE MODEL OF ATOMS:
ACCORDING TO MODERN PHYSICISTS, THE
LOCATION AND/OR MOTION OF
ELECTRONS CANNOT BE KNOWN FOR
SURE. THE BEST WE CAN DO IS TO TALK
ABOUT THE PROBABILITY OF SOME EVENT
OCCURRING OR SOME PARTICLE
EXISTING AT A GIVEN LOCATION.