Atomic Models

• This model of the atom

may look familiar to you.
This is the Bohr model. In
this model, the nucleus is
orbited by electrons,
which are in different
energy levels.
• A model uses familiar ideas to
explain unfamiliar facts observed in
nature.
• A model can be changed as new
information is collected.
HISTORY OF THE ATOMIC MODEL

•The atomic model

has changed
throughout the
centuries, starting
in 400 BC, when it
looked like a
billiard ball →
Who are these men?

In this lesson, we’ll learn

about the men whose quests
for knowledge about the
fundamental nature of the
universe helped define our
views.
Democritus
400 BC
• This is the Greek philosopher
Democritus who began the
search for a description of
matter more than 2400 years
ago.
• He asked: Could matter be
divided into smaller and
smaller pieces forever, or
was there a limit to the
number of times a piece of
matter could be divided?
Atomos

• His theory: Matter could not

be divided into smaller and
smaller pieces forever,
eventually the smallest
possible piece would be
obtained.
• This piece would be
indivisible.
• He named the smallest piece
of matter “atomos,” meaning
“not to be cut.”
Atomos

To Democritus, atoms

were small, hard
particles that were all
made of the same
material but were
different shapes and
sizes.
Atoms were infinite in
number, always moving
and capable of joining
together.
 This theory was ignored
and forgotten for more than
2000 years!
Why?
• The eminent
philosophers of the
time, Aristotle and
Plato, had a more
respected, (and
ultimately wrong)
theory.

Aristotle and Plato favored the earth, fire, air

and water approach to the nature of matter.
Their ideas held sway because of their
eminence as philosophers. The atomos idea
was buried for approximately 2000 years.
Dalton’s Model

• In the early 1800s, the English

Chemist John Dalton performed a
number of experiments that
eventually led to the acceptance
of the idea of atoms.
Dalton’s Theory

• He deduced that all elements

are composed of atoms. Atoms
are indivisible and
indestructible particles.
• Atoms of the same element are
exactly alike.
• Atoms of different elements
are different.
• Compounds are formed by the
joining of atoms of two or
more elements.
.

•This theory
became one of
the foundations
of modern
chemistry.
Thomson’s Plum Pudding Model

•In 1897, the English

scientist J.J.
Thomson provided
the first hint that
an atom is made of
even smaller
particles.
Thomson Model

• He proposed a model of the atom

that is sometimes called the
“Plum Pudding” model.
• Atoms were made from a
positively charged substance with
negatively charged electrons
scattered about, like raisins in a
pudding.
Thomson Model

•Thomson studied
the passage of an
electric current
through a gas.
•As the current
passed through the
gas, it gave off rays
of negatively
charged particles.
Thomson Model
Where did
they come
•This surprised from?

Thomson, because
the atoms of the
gas were
uncharged. Where
had the negative
charges come
from?
Thomson concluded that the
negative charges came from within
the atom.

A particle smaller than an atom had

to exist.

The atom was divisible!

Thomson called the negatively
charged “corpuscles,” today known
as electrons.

Since the gas was known to be

neutral, having no charge, he
reasoned that there must be
positively charged particles in the
atom.

But he could never find them.

Rutherford’s Gold Foil Experiment

• In 1908, the English physicist

Ernest Rutherford was hard at
work on an experiment that
seemed to have little to do with
unraveling the mysteries of the
atomic structure.
•Rutherford’s experiment involved firing a
stream of tiny positively charged particles
at a thin sheet of gold foil (2000 atoms
thick)
• Most of the positively
charged “bullets” passed
right through the gold atoms
in the sheet of gold foil
without changing course at
all.
• Some of the positively
charged “bullets,” however,
did bounce away from the
gold sheet as if they had hit
something solid. He knew
that positive charges repel
positive charges.
RUTHERFORD’S EXPERIMENT

• http://www.mhhe.com/physsci/chemistry/essentialchemistry/flash/r
uther14.swf
• This could only mean that the gold atoms in the
sheet were mostly open space. Atoms were not a
pudding filled with a positively charged material.
• Rutherford concluded that an atom had a small,
dense, positively charged center that repelled his
positively charged “bullets.”
• He called the center of the atom the “nucleus”
• The nucleus is tiny compared to the atom as a
whole.
Rutherford

• Rutherford reasoned that

all of an atom’s positively
charged particles were
contained in the nucleus.
The negatively charged
particles were scattered
outside the nucleus
around the atom’s edge.
Bohr Model
•In 1913, the Danish
scientist Niels Bohr
proposed an
improvement. In his
model, he placed
each electron in a
specific energy level.
Bohr Model SIR JAMES CHADWICK
DISCOVERED THE NEUTRON IN 1935
• According to Bohr’s atomic
model, electrons move in definite
orbits around the nucleus, much
like planets circle the sun. These
orbits, or energy levels, are
located at certain distances from
the nucleus.
Wave Model
The Wave Model

• Today’s atomic model is based on

the principles of wave mechanics.
• According to the theory of wave
mechanics, electrons do not
move about an atom in a definite
path, like the planets around the
sun.
The Wave Model

• In fact, it is impossible to determine the exact location

of an electron. The probable location of an electron is
based on how much energy the electron has.
• According to the modern atomic model, at atom has a
small positively charged nucleus surrounded by a large
region in which there are enough electrons to make
an atom neutral.
Electron Cloud:

• A space in which electrons

are likely to be found.
• Electrons whirl about the
nucleus billions of times in
one second
• They are not moving around
in random patterns.
• Location of electrons
depends upon how much
energy the electron has.
Electron Cloud:

• Depending on their energy they are locked into a

certain area in the cloud.
• Electrons with the lowest energy are found in the
energy level closest to the nucleus
• Electrons with the highest energy are found in the
outermost energy levels, farther from the nucleus.
 Indivisible Electron Nucleus Orbit Electron
Cloud
Greek X
Dalton X
Thomson X
Rutherford X X
Bohr X X X
Wave X X X
Models of the Atom
review
 Dalton Model of Atom
• Small, indivisible spheres

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/
Dalton’s Theory

• He deduced that all elements

are composed of atoms. Atoms
are indivisible and
indestructible particles.
• Atoms of the same element are
exactly alike.
• Atoms of different elements
are different.
• Compounds are formed by the
joining of atoms of two or
more elements.
J.J. Thompson’s Model of Atom
• Plum Pudding Model,
1896
• Thought an atom was like
plum pudding
• Dough was
• Raisins

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/

• Didn’t know about neutrons

at this time
 Rutherford’s Model of the Atom
• Rutherford Model, 1911
• Thought atom was mostly empty
space
• Nucleus

• Electrons (negatively charged)

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/
Rutherford’s model

• This could only mean that the gold atoms in the

sheet were mostly open space. Atoms were not a
pudding filled with a positively charged material.
• Rutherford concluded that an atom had a small,
dense, positively charged center that repelled his
positively charged “bullets.”
• He called the center of the atom the “nucleus”
• The nucleus is tiny compared to the atom as a
whole.
 Bohr’s Model of the Atom
• Neils Bohr, 1913
• Similar to Rutherford’s model
• Thought atom was mostly
empty space
• Nucleus in center is dense,
positively charge
• Electrons are arranged
in energy levels around the
nucleus http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/
 Electron Cloud Model
• De Broglie and,
Schrodinger~1926

• Think atom is mostly

empty space
• Nucleus in center is dense,
positively charge
• Only a probability of finding
electrons in certain areas
around the nucleus

http://particleadventure.org/particleadventure/frameless/modern_atom.html