Mod 2 2/17/23

History of the Atom

Liam Pfeifer
Alchemists
● Alchemists were pseudo-chemists who believed that humans could achieve
eternal life through purity, and believed that the human body was made of
sulfur.
● One of the most important goals for alchemists was to discover how to
transform lead into gold.
Democritus
● Democritus was a Greek philosopher born around 460 BCE who lived until
about 370 BCE.
● Democritus was the first to coin the term “atom”
Marie Curie
● Marie Curie was a Polish, naturalized-French physicist and chemist who lived
from 1867 to 1934.
● Curie and her husband were the first to discover two new elements, radium
and polonium and the radioactivity of them.
Dmitri Mendeleev
● Mendeleev was a Russian chemist/inventor who was born in 1834 and died in
1907.
● Mendeleev is best known for being the first to formulate the Periodic Law and
a version of the periodic table of elements.
The Sphere Model
● The sphere model of the atom was first created by John Dalton, who was an
English chemist that lived from 1766 to 1844.
● John Dalton is also known for introducing the atomic theory into chemistry.
The Plum Pudding Model
● The plum pudding model was first developed by British physicist J.J.
Thomson. He was born in 1856 and died in 1940.
● Thomson was the first to discover the electron via the cathode ray tube (CRT)
Nuclear Model of the Atom
● The nuclear model of the atom was created by New Zealand physicist Ernest
Rutherford, who lived from 1871 to 1937.
● Ernest Rutherford was the first to discover protons in 1919. He did this by
performing his gold foil experiment.
Planetary Model of the Atom
● The planetary model was presented by both Ernest Rutherford and Niels
Bohr. Bohr lived in Denmark from 1885 to 1962.
Quantum Mechanics Model of the Atom
● The quantum mechanics model of the atom was first proposed by Irish
physicist Erwin Schrödinger, who lived from 1887 to 1961.
The Neutron
● The neutron was found in 1932 by British physicist James Chadwick, born
1891, died 1974.
Quantum Theory
● German physicist Max Planck (1858-1947) introduced quantum theory in
1900, but it wasn’t until 1913 when Danish physicist Niels Bohr (1885-1962)
used it to describe the spectrum of hydrogen.