Duration: 10-15 mins Grade: - 12 CCSS, NGSS

The Development of a New Atomic Model

Kenzie, Eman, Eugene
 Lesson objectives

• Defining the Atom.

• Understanding the structure of the Nuclear Atom.
• Distinguishing among Atoms.
• The revising of the atomic model.
• Electron arrangement in Atoms.
• Quantum mechanical model.
• Wave duality theory.
 Defining the Atom

• In the early BCs, Greek philosopher Democritus was among the first to suggest
that all matter is made up of tiny indestructible particles called “Atomos” , which
is Latin for “uncuttable”.

• No new discoveries were made on these “Atomos” for almost 2000 years, until
British chemist John Dalton grew curious to these particles.

• Using experimental methods, Dalton transformed Democritus’s ideas on atoms

into a scientific theory.
Dalton studied the ratios in which elements combine in chemical reactions.
 Defining the Atom

Based on the results of his experiments, he came out with theories to explain
his observations.

It is now most famously known as the Dalton atomic theory.

Dalton’s atomic theory states that :

1. All elements are composed of particles called atoms, atoms are made up of
tiny indivisible particles.
2. Atoms of the same element are identical.
3. Atoms of different elements can physically mix together or chemically
combine in simple ratios to form compounds.
4. Chemical reactions occur when atoms are separated from each other,
joined, rearranged in a different combination.
5. Atoms of one element can never be changed to atoms of another element
as a result of a chemical reaction.
Structure of the nuclear atom

• A lot of Dalton’s atomic theory is true and accurate, except for the fact that now it has
been discovered that atoms are in fact divisible into three subatomic particles.

• Electrons: negatively charged particles.

• Protons: positively charged particles.
• Neutrons: particles with no charge but with mass equal to a proton.

• When subatomic particles were discovered, scientists wondered how the particles
were put together in an atom, this was difficult since atoms are very tiny.

• After many scientists tried to contribute to atomic structure , only two were decided
most influential in the making of today’s atomic model.
Rutherford’s Gold-Foil Experiment
Rutherford’s Gold-Foil Experiment

• Rutherford describes the atom as a tiny dense particle with a positivity

charge core called a nucleus.

• In his experiment, he confirmed the existence of protons.

• He pictured in his model that electrons are in motion around the nucleus.

• Rutherford model states that “an atom is composed of a middle core

where nearly the whole mass of that atom is determined, and light weight
particles move around this middle core.”
Distinguishing among atoms

• Before we move on to the modifications of the atomic model, we must first

understand how an element differs from another.

• Elements differ in the number of protons.

• This is where the element’s atomic number and mass number comes in.

Atomic number: is the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom (of the
element).

Mass number: is the total number of protons and neutrons in an atom.

• If you know the atomic and mass number of an atom of any element
you can determine its composition.
This image shows that there are 3 different kinds of neon atoms.
Distinguishing among atoms

• These 3 neon atoms are called isotopes.

• Isotopes: are atoms that have the same number of protons but different
numbers of neutrons.

• Despite these differences, isotopes are chemically alike because they

have identical numbers of protons and electrons (which are responsible
for chemical behavior) as you can see in the image.
Distinguishing among atoms

• How can you calculate the atomic mass of an element?

• The atomic mass is measured using the average mass of the isotope in a
naturally occurring sample of the element, reflecting both the mass and
relative abundance of the isotopes as they occur in nature.

• relative abundance: is the percentile of one isotope occurring in nature.

• AM=(mass x relative abundance)

Niels Bohr’s modified model

• Although Rutherford’s model came up with many important contributions to

atomic structure, it was incomplete.

• His model failed to state the state of electrons orbiting around the nucleus
or their presence not being exactly specified in the atom, the way he
pictured them would mean they’d “fall into the nucleus”.

• Later on, Danish physicist and a student of Rutherford’s Niels Bohr

developed a new atomic model.

• He changed Rutherford’s model to incorporate newer discoveries about

how the energy of an atom changes when the atom absorbs or emits light.
Bohr studied the hydrogen atom to discover energy levels
and electron behavior.
Niels Bohr’s modified model

• Bohr proposed that an electron is found only in specific circular paths, or

orbits, around the nucleus.

• Each possible electron in Bohr’s model has a fixed energy, these fixed
energies are called energy levels.

• They look something like a ladder, in order to climb up or down

you must step up or down the ladder.

• Similarly electrons act as people as they can move from one

energy level to another.
Niels Bohr’s modified model

• In order for an electron to move from an energy level to another the

electron must gain or lose the right amount of energy.

• The term quantum then comes in from the Latin word “quantus” meaning
“how much”.

• A quantum of energy is the amount of energy required to move an

electron from one energy level to another, therefore we could say the
energy of the electron must be quantized.
Quantum mechanical model

• In the early 1900s,Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger used calculations

to devise and solve a mathematical equation describing the behavior of the
electron in a hydrogen atom.

• The modern description of electrons in atoms is called the quantum

mechanical model, and it came from the mathematical solutions of the
Schrödinger equation.

• Like the Bohr model, the quantum model restricts the energy of the
electrons to certain values.

• Unlike the Bohr model though, the quantum model does not specify an
exact path the electron takes around the nucleus.
Quantum mechanical model

• The Quantum Mechanical Model: determines the allowed energies an

electron can have and how likely it is to find the electron in various
locations around the nucleus of an atom (probability).
Atomic Orbitals

• Solutions to the Schrodinger equation give the energies, or energy levels,

an electron can have.

• For each energy level the Schrodinger equation also leads to a

mathematical expression called an atomic orbital.

• This atomic orbital describes the probability of finding an electron at

various locations around the nucleus.
Atomic Orbitals

• The energy levels of electrons in the quantum mechanical model are

labeled by principal quantum numbers (n)

• These numbers are assigned values n:1,2,3,4

• Each energy sublevel corresponds to one or more orbitals of different

shapes, the orbitals describe where they are most likely found.

• Different atomic orbitals are denoted by letters.

Electron Arrangement in Atoms

• In an atom,electrons and the nucleus interact to make the most stable

arrangement possible.

• The ways in which electrons are arranged in various orbitals around the
nuclei of atoms are called electron configurations.
Electron Configuration

• There are 3 rules for writing electron configurations of elements:

• 1- The Aufbau principle: fill lower energy levels before higher ones.

• 2- The Pauli exclusion principle: an atomic orbital may describe at most

2 electrons with opposite spin.

• Spin: spin is a quantum mechanical property of electrons and may be

thought of as clockwise or counterclockwise, a vertical arrow indicates
electron and its direction of spin.

• 3-Hund’s rule: every orbital in a subshell is singly filled before it is doubly

filled. (they must have the same spin)
wave duality theory

• The quantum mechanical model grew out of the study of light.

• For years and years, the argument of whether light is a particle or a wave
struck many scientists’ heads.

• We must first discuss the properties of waves.

• Wavelength: is the distance between the maximums of a wave.

• Frequency: is the number of wave cycles to pass a given point per

whatever unit of time.
The product of frequency and wavelength equals the speed of
light, a constant.
wave duality theory

• The concept of wave-particle duality is among the most crucial ones

in quantum theory. It asserts that matter possesses both wave and particle
properties, much as light does.

• This contribution has been made by French physicist Louis de Broglie, this
is crucial to quantum mechanics as the subject describes the motion of
subatomic particles and atoms as waves.

Here comes in the Heisenberg uncertainty principle which states that it is

impossible to know both velocity and position at the same time.
 Here we have an example of the roller coaster, we cannot determine the accurate location
and speed at the same time, as when the rollercoaster moves you cannot determine the
location as it is not constant, but if you take a snapshot of the rollercoaster at the top of the
hill, for example, you can see its location but cannot determine the speed from a picture .
THANK YOU