CLASS 12 PHYSICS

ATOMS
 Thomson’s Model of an Atom:
• An atom consists of positively charged matter in
which the negatively charged electrons are
uniformly embedded like plums in a pudding. This
model could not explain scattering of alpha-
particles through thin foils and hence discarded
Rutherford’s Model of an Atom:

Geiger and Marsden in their experiment on

scattering of alpha-particles found that most of
the alpha-particles passed undeviated through
thin foils but some of them were scattered
through very large angles.
Alpha particle scattering experiment Analysis of scattering experiment

A beam of 5.5 MeV α particle emitted from a 83 Bi214 radioactive source at a

thin gold metal foil of thickness 2.7 X 10 -7 m. The scattered α particles were
observed through a rotatable detector consisting of ZnS screen & a microscope
Sl. No. Observation Conclusion
1 Most of the α-particles passed straight It indicates that most of the space in an atom is
through the gold foil. empty.

2 Some of the α-particles were scattered by
only small angles, of the order of a few
degrees.
3 A few α-particles (1 in 8000) were
deflected through large angles (even
greater than 90°).
Some of them even retraced their path.
i.e. angle of deflection was 180°.
α-particles being +ve ly charged and heavy
compared to electron could only be deflected
by heavy and positive region in an atom. It
indicates that the positive charges and the
most of the mass of the atom are concentrated
at the centre called ‘nucleus’.
α-particles which travel towards the nucleus
directly get retarded due to Coulomb’s force of
repulsion and ultimately comes to rest and then
fly off in the opposite direction.

DISTANCE OF CLOSEST APPROACH

When an alpha-particle of mass m and velocity v moves directly towards a nucleus of
atomic number Z, its initial energy E, which is just the kinetic energy K gets completely
converted into potential energy U at stopping point. This stopping point
happens to be at a distance of closest approach d from the nucleus.
D= 2Ze2/4πε0K
Impact Parameter (b):

The perpendicular distance of the velocity vector

of the α-particle from the centre of the nucleus u θ
when it is far away from the nucleus is known as
impact parameter. b
+
r0

Ze2 cot (θ/2)

b=
4πε0 (½ mu2)

i) For large value of b, cot θ/2 is large and θ, the scattering angle is small.
i.e. α-particles travelling far away from the nucleus suffer small deflections.
ii) For small value of b, cot θ/2 is also small and θ, the scattering angle is large.
i.e. α-particles travelling close to the nucleus suffer large deflections.

iii) For b = 0 i.e. α-particles directed towards the centre of the nucleus,

cot θ/2 = 0 or θ/2 = 90° or θ = 180°

The α-particles retrace their path.

Rutherford’s Model :
a) An atom consists of a small and massive central core in which the entire positive
charge and almost the whole mass of the atom are concentrated. This core is called
the nucleus.
b) The size of nucleus (10-15 m) is a very small as compared to the size of the
atom (10-10 m) .
c) The atom is surrounded by a suitable number of electros so that their total negative
charge is equal to the total positive charge on the nucleus and the atom as a whole is
electrically neutral.
d) The electrons revolve around the nucleus in various orbits just as planets revolve
around the sun.
e) The centripetal force required for their revolution is provided by the electrostatic
attraction between the electrons and the nucleus.
Limitations of Rutherford’s Atomic Model :

(i) It predicts that atoms are unstable because the accelerated electrons revolving around the nucleus must radiate energy
according to classical electromagnetic theory & fall rapidly into the nucleus. This contradicts the stability of matter.
(ii) It cannot explain the characteristic line spectra of atoms of different elements.
Atomic spectra
Emission spectrum

Each element has a characteristic spectrum of radiation, which it emits. When an atomic gas or
vapour is excited at low pressure, usually by passing an electric current through it, the emitted
radiation has a spectrum which contains certain specific wavelengths only. A spectrum of this
kind is termed as emission line spectrum.

Absorption spectrum

If light is passed though hydrogen gas taken in a glass tube, the atoms will absorb certain
frequencies for the excitation to higher states. Thus if we analyse the light coming out we can
see dark lines in a bright background. The dark lines correspond to the frequencies

absorbed by the hydrogen atoms. Here the spectrum is known as absorption spectrum.
Bohr’s Model :
Neils Bohr in 1913 combined classical & early quantum concept
& gave his theory in the form of three postulates.

Bohr’s postulates :
1.Nuclear concept : An atom consists of a small massive central part called nucleus around which planetary
electrons revolve in certain stable orbits without the emission of radiant energy, these non- radiating orbits are
called Stationary Orbits. The centripetal force required for their rotation is provided by the electrostatic attraction
between the electrons and the nucleus.

2. Quantum condition : Electron revolves around the nucleus only in those orbits for which the angular
momentum is some integral multiple of h/2π where h is the Planck’s constant (= 6.6 × 10 –34 J s). Thus the angular
momentum (L) of the orbiting electron is quantised. That is L = nh/2π

3. Frequency condition: Bohr’s third postulate states that an electron might make a transition from one of its
specified non-radiating orbits to another of lower energy. When it does so, a photon is emitted having energy equal to the
energy difference between the initial and final states. The frequency of the emitted photon is then given by

• hν = Ei – Ef (Where Ei and Ef are the energies of the initial and final states)
Bohr’s Model Of Hydrogen Atom :
Radii of permitted orbits : The electrostatic force of attraction
between the nucleus of charge Ze & the electron of charge e is,

Where α is the fine structure constant.=1/137

Main formulas of Bohr’s theory
• Radius of nth orbit =( є0h2 /me2 ) n2

• Velocity of an electron in an orbit= e2 /2є0 nh

rn

• Kinetic energy of a revolving electron= e2 /8пє0 r

• Potential energy of a revolving electron = - e2 /4пє0 r

• Total energy of an electron in an orbit = -me4 /8є02 h2 n2

• En = (-13.6 / n2 ) eV
Energy level Diagram :
• It is a diagram by which the energies of different energy
states of an atom are represented by parallel horizontal
lines, drawn according to some suitable energy scale.

Spectral series of Hydrogen Atom :

When an electron jumps from higher energy level n 2 to a lower
energy level n1 then it emit a photon of frequency ν,
Spectral series of hydrogen atom:
 a
a