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The document covers the structure of the atom, detailing early models like the plum pudding model proposed by JJ Thompson and later the Rutherford model based on alpha particle scattering experiments. It discusses the discovery of neutrons by Chadwick and the evolution of atomic theory, including the quantum model introduced by Heisenberg. Key tasks include understanding atomic structure, properties of sub-atomic particles, and the implications of experimental results on atomic models.

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3 views

Untitled Extract Pages

The document covers the structure of the atom, detailing early models like the plum pudding model proposed by JJ Thompson and later the Rutherford model based on alpha particle scattering experiments. It discusses the discovery of neutrons by Chadwick and the evolution of atomic theory, including the quantum model introduced by Heisenberg. Key tasks include understanding atomic structure, properties of sub-atomic particles, and the implications of experimental results on atomic models.

Uploaded by

ftl.kk.2015
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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EDEXCEL A2 Physics Course Particle Physics EDEXCELA2 Physics Course

1 The atom
Task 1.1 Keywords
Unscramble the keywords and write them in the box

Task 1.2 The structure of the atom


At the beginning of the 20th Century, scientists were unsure of the structure of atoms. They knew the

following facts:

• Atoms are very small (too small to observe with an optical microscope)

• Atoms can be split into positively and negatively charge bits

• The negatively charged bits are much smaller and lighter than the whole atom.

They called the negatively charged bits electrons and thought that the electrons might be embedded in the

positvely charrged bit (like currents in a plum pudding) to make the atom overall neutral.

This model was called the plum pudding by its inventor JJ Thompson in 1904 (he also discovered the

electron in 1897)

Year 13 Physics Course MNT/ HISHK 5


EDEXCEL A2 Physics Course Particle Physics EDEXCELA2 Physics Course
If the ‘plum pudding’ model is accurate, then the positive charge is spread through a relatively large

volume. Therefore, it should be easy to shoot very fast moving sub-atomic particles like alpha particles

right through it.

An experiment to check the plum pudding model was proposed by Professor Ernest Rutherford
working at Manchester University in 1911.

Geiger and Marsden used _____________________________, a _____________________________,

________________________ and a Scintillation viewer to detect the path taken by the alpha particles.

Year 13 Physics Course MNT/ HISHK 6


EDEXCEL A2 Physics Course Particle Physics EDEXCELA2 Physics Course
Why was a lead-lined box with a slit used to contain the alpha source (Radium)?

Why was a vacuum required?

Why was gold used?

Why was a Scintillation detector used?

The results of the alpha scattering experiment for gold

What were the 3 main observations:

1.

2.

3.

Year 13 Physics Course MNT/ HISHK 7


EDEXCEL A2 Physics Course Particle Physics EDEXCELA2 Physics Course
Task 1.3 Drawing conclusions
Explain each observation:
Observation 1: Most went straight through the foil
Explanation:

Observation 2: Some were deflected at different angles


Explanation:

Observation 3: A small proportion of alpha particles were deflected through more than 90°

Explanation:

Observation 4: Very few (1 in 8000) bounced back towards the source


Explanation:

Rutherford’s nuclear model was quickly accepted because it explained the experimental results much
better than the plum pudding model. Later scientists refined the model by discovering that there were two
different kinds of nucleon (protons and neutrons) and that the electrons only travel in certain orbits

Year 13 Physics Course MNT/ HISHK 8


EDEXCEL A2 Physics Course Particle Physics EDEXCELA2 Physics Course

Year 13 Physics Course MNT/ HISHK 9


EDEXCEL A2 Physics Course Particle Physics EDEXCELA2 Physics Course
Task 1.4 The Rutherford Atom
What is an atom?

Label the atom, then complete the table

Complete the table:

A Summary of the Sub-atomic Particle Properties

Particle Rest Mass Relative Charge Relative Specific Charge


(kg) Mass (c) Charge (ckg-1)

Proton 1.67(3)×10-27 1 +1.6×10-19 +1

Neutron 1.67(5)×10-27 1 0 0

Electron 9.11×10-31 1/1833 -1.6×10-19 -1

To represent the information for an element we give them a mass number and an atomic number.

Label the diagram:

He
2
What does the atomic number represent?

What does the mass number represent? What is the other name?

Year 13 Physics Course MNT/ HISHK 10


EDEXCEL A2 Physics Course Particle Physics EDEXCELA2 Physics Course
Task 1.5 Comparing Alpha Scattering for Gold and Aluminium

Why was there a greater chance of an alpha particle being reflected back towards the source or
undergoing a large angular deflection for Gold?

What else could cause a large angular deflection?

Year 13 Physics Course MNT/ HISHK 11


EDEXCEL A2 Physics Course Particle Physics EDEXCELA2 Physics Course
The discovery of the neutron
In 1930, Irene Joliot-Curie and her husband, Frederic, found that alpha particles striking beryllium
caused it to give off an unknown radiation. Difficult to detect, this unknown, uncharged radiation could
knock protons out of paraffin and these were detected by a G-M tube.

The Joliot-Curies tried to explain the unknown radiation as gamma-rays; however, these rays have no
mass, this was a breach of the conservation of momentum. James Chadwick repeated the experiments
using other target materials as well as paraffin. By considering momentum transfer and conservation of
kinetic energy in the collisions between the particles, Chadwick concluded that the ‘Beryllium radiation’
was a neutral particles which had a mass about 1% more than that of a proton.

Neutrons help to bind the nucleus together: this is done is two ways:
1) they exert the strong nuclear force on other nucleons
2) They act as a space buffer between the mutually repelling positive charges of the protons
As the atomic number (number of protons) grows there is a need for a proportionately greater numbers of
neutrons

Year 13 Physics Course MNT/ HISHK 12


EDEXCEL A2 Physics Course Particle Physics EDEXCELA2 Physics Course
The Quantum Atom
In the 1920s, Werner Heisenberg altered the model of the atom which had electrons in orbits like planets
in a solar system. His uncertainty principle states that we cannot know both the exact position and the
velocity of anything at any given moment. His model of the atom has regions around the nucleus in
which there is a high probability of finding an electron, and the shapes of these probability clouds
represent what we currently refer to as the electron ‘orbitals’.

Year 13 Physics Course MNT/ HISHK 13


EDEXCEL A2 Physics Course Particle Physics EDEXCELA2 Physics Course
Task 1.5 Rutherford atom past paper questions
(Edexcel Jan 2010)

Year 13 Physics Course MNT/ HISHK 14


EDEXCEL A2 Physics Course Particle Physics EDEXCELA2 Physics Course
Rutherford was able to reveal the atomic structure using alpha particles that revealed that the nucleus has
a positive charge and most of the mass is concentrated in this tiny core. However, he could not provide
any more information about the structure of a neutron or a proton using the same method. To get more
information high energy electrons can be used. This is because a particle can behave like a wave. The
_______________________________________________________ of a particle ___________________
____________________________________________. Hence it has better resolution and can determine
smaller features.

Task 1.6 Electron gun - a simple particle accelerator


A heating coil heats the metal cathode. The electrons absorb thermal photons and have enough energy to
break free. This is called ‘________________________________________’. They are then accelerated
towards the cylindrical anode by the electric field set up by the high voltage.

Electrons are “burned off”


Year 13 Physics Course MNT/ HISHK 15
EDEXCEL A2 Physics Course Particle Physics EDEXCELA2 Physics Course
An example of electrons diffraction can be seen from an electron gun firing electrons towards a graphite
target:

Example
An electron of mass 9.11 x 10-31 kg is fired from an electron gun at 7 x 106 m/s.
What size object will the electron need to interact with in order to diffract?
h
=
mv
6.6 10 −34
=
(9.1110 −34 )  7 106
 = 110 −10 m

How fast would an electron be moving if it was accelerated from rest through a pd of 2800V?
E k = eV
E k = 1.6  10 -19  2800
E k = 4.5  10 -16 J

1 2
Ek = mv
2
2E k
v=
m
v = 3.1 10 7 m / s
Year 13 Physics Course MNT/ HISHK 16

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