Atomic Structure

Democritus 460 BC

• Suggested world was made of

two things – empty space and
“atomos”
– Atomos – Greek word for
uncuttable
• 2 Main ideas
– Atoms are the smallest possible
particle of matter
– There are different types of
atoms for each material
2 John Dalton’s Atomic Theory
1804

1. All matter is made of atoms.

2. Atoms of one element are all
the same.
3. Atoms cannot be broken down
into smaller parts
4. Compounds form by
combining atoms
J.J. Thomson

1897
Discovered the electron

He was the first scientist to show

the atom was made of even smaller
things
Early ideas about the atom:
The plum pudding model

• JJ Thomson suggested that an atom is a positively-

charged sphere with negative electrons distributed
throughout it

• Thomson’s model became known as the plum pudding

model, because the electrons in the atom were thought
to be like raisins in a plum pudding.
Thomson’s “Plum Pudding” Atom Model
Gold Foil Experiment Results
most alpha particles go straight through
the gold foil
A few alpha particles are sharply deflected
Rutherford, Geiger and Marsden:
The nuclear model of the atom - 1
Rutherford, Geiger and Marsden:
The nuclear model of the atom - 1
Rutherford, Geiger and Marsden:
The nuclear model of the atom - 1
Rutherford, Geiger and Marsden:
The nuclear model of the atom - 1
The modern atom: The nuclear model
The nucleus is where
most of the mass of
the atom is found.
It contains protons and
neutrons.

The electrons orbit

the nucleus in layers
called shells.

• In an atom the number of electrons is equal to the

number of protons in the nucleus.
• The atom has no net electrical charge
Rutherford's Atomic Model
• Rutherford put forward the model of an
atom, which had the following features:

• There is a positively charged centre in an atom called

the nucleus. Nearly all the mass of an atom resides in
the nucleus.
• The electrons revolve around the nucleus in well-defined
orbits.
• The size of the nucleus is very small as compared to the
size of the atom.
Plum pudding Vs nuclear model

Plum pudding Nuclear model

Atom is solid sphere Atom is mostly empty space

Negative electrons Electrons orbit the nucleus

distributed throughout the
atom
Positive charge throughout Positive charge
the atom concentrated in the centre
No nucleus Contains a nucleus
Book questions