Atoms:

Development of the
Atomic Theory
 Democritus

 460 BC - Greek philosopher proposes

the existence of the atom

 He pounded materials until he made

them into smaller and smaller parts

 He called them atoma which is Greek

for “indivisible”.
 Democritus

His Theory:
All atoms:
 Are small hard particles

 Are made of a single material formed into

different shapes and sizes

 Are always moving, and they form

different materials by joining together
 John Dalton

 1803 - British chemist; elements

combine in specific proportions to form
compounds
Solid Sphere Model or
Bowling Ball Model
Proposed by John Dalton
 John Dalton
 His Theory:
 All substances are made of atoms that
cannot be created, divided, or destroyed.

 Atoms join with other atoms to make new

substances.

 Atoms of the same element are exactly

alike, and atoms of different elements are
different in mass and size.
 J.J. Thomson

 1897 - English chemist and physicist;

discovered 1st subatomic particles
Plum Pudding Model or
Raisin Bun Model
Proposed by J.J. Thomson
 J.J. Thomson
 His Theory:
 Atoms contain negatively charged
particles called electrons and positively
charged matter.

 Created a model to describe the atom as a

sphere filled with positive matter with
negative particles mixed in

 Referred to it as the plum pudding model

 Ernest Rutherford
 1912 - New Zealand physicist
discovered the nucleus

Nuclear Model
Proposed by Ernest
Rutherford
 Ernest Rutherford

 His Theory:
 Small, dense, positively charged particle
present in nucleus called a proton

 Electrons travel around the nucleus, but

their exact places cannot be described.
 Niels Bohr
 1913 - Danish physicist; discovered
energy levels

Bohr Model or Planetary

Model
Proposed by Niels Bohr
 Niels Bohr

 His Theory:
 Electrons travel around the nucleus in
definite paths and fixed distances.

 Electrons can jump from one level to a

path in another level.
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Erwin Shrodinger
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 1924 - Austrian physicist; developed

the electron cloud model
Electron Cloud Model
Proposed by Erwin
Schrodinger
 Erwin Shrodinger
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 His Theory:
 The exact path of electrons cannot be
predicted.

 The region referred to as the electron

cloud, is an area where electrons can
likely be found.
 James Chadwick

 1932 - English physicist; discovered

neutrons
 His Theory:
 Neutrons have no electrical charge.
 Neutrons have a mass nearly equal to the
mass of a proton.
 Unit of measurement for subatomic
particles is the atomic mass unit (amu).
 Modern Theory of the Atom
 Atoms are composed of three main
subatomic particles: the electron, proton, and
neutron.

 Most of the mass of the atom is concentrated

in the nucleus of the atom.

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 Modern Theory of the Atom
 The protons and neutrons are located within
the nucleus, while the electrons exist
outside of the nucleus.

 In stable atoms, the number of protons is

equal to the number of electrons.

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Sodium Atom (Na)
 Modern Theory of the Atom
 The type of atom is determined by the
number of protons it has.

 The number of protons in an atom is equal to

the atomic number.

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 Modern Theory of the Atom
 The sum of the number of protons and neutrons
in a particular atom is called the atomic mass.

 Valence electrons are the outermost electrons.

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