Development
of the Atomic
Theory
Al-Omar C. Daris
Formulation of Atomic Theory
• He proposes the existence of an atom.
• He pounded a material until he made them into smaller and
smaller parts. He called it atoma afterwards which is Greek for
indivisible.
Democritus (460-370 B.C.)
Greek Philosopher
Formulation of Atomic Theory
• He proposes the existence of an atom.
• He pounded a material until he made them into smaller and
smaller parts. He called it atoma afterwards which is Greek for
indivisible.
• His theoryꓽ
All atoms areꓽ
1. small hard particles
2. made up of a single material formed into different shapes
Democritus (460-370 B.C.) and sizes
Greek Philosopher
3. always moving (maybe he’s referring to dust particles)
4. and, they form different materials by joining together
Why weren´t Democritus ideas
accepted?
• Aristotle was a very famous Greek philosopher who believed that
matter could be divided into smaller and smaller pieces forever. He
held a very strong influence on popular belief and his views on this
were accepted for approximately 2,500 years.
John Dalton´s Atomic Theory
• By the late 1700s, scientists had learned that elements combine in
specific proportions based on mass to form compounds.
• He performed experiments with different substances and his result
demonstrated that elements combine in specific proportions
because they are made of individual atoms (indivisible).
• His theoryꓽ
1. All substances are made up of atoms that cannot be
created, divided or destroyed.
John Dalton (1766-1844)
2. Atoms join with other atoms to make new substances.
British Chemist 3. Atoms of the same element are exactly alike, and atoms of
different elements are different in mass and sizes.
John Dalton´s Atomic Theory
John Dalton (1766-1844)
British Chemist
J.J. Thomson´s Atomic Theory
• On 1904, he had an experiment to test the idea of Dalton using
Cathode Ray Tube and discovered the corpuscles (electron) residing
inside the atom.
Joseph John Thomson
(1856-1940)
Physicist
J.J. Thomson´s Atomic Theory
• On 1904, he had an experiment to test the idea of Dalton using
Cathode Ray Tube and discovered the corpuscles (electron) residing
inside the atom.
Plum pudding model to describe an atom
Joseph John Thomson
(1856-1940) • His theoryꓽ
Physicist Atoms contain negatively charged particle called electron
in a positively charged medium.
Ernest Rutherford´s Atomic
Theory
• In 1909, he designed an experiment to test Thomson´s theory and
investigate the structure of the atom.
• He aimed a beam of small, positively charged particles at a thin
sheet gold foil and discovered nucleus.
Ernest Rutherford
(1871-1937)
Physicist
Former student of
Thomson
Ernest Rutherford´s Atomic
Theory
• In 1909, he designed an experiment to test Thomson´s theory and
investigate the structure of the atom.
• He aimed a beam of small, positively charged particles at a thin
sheet gold foil and discovered nucleus.
Ernest Rutherford
(1871-1937)
Physicist
Former student of
Thomson
Ernest Rutherford´s Atomic
Theory
• In 1909, he designed an experiment to test Thomson´s theory and
investigate the structure of the atom.
• He aimed a beam of small, positively charged particles at a thin
sheet gold foil and discovered nucleus.
Nuclear Model to describe an atom
Ernest Rutherford
(1871-1937)
• His theoryꓽ
Physicist 1. Small, dense, positively charged particle present in nucleus
Former student of called a proton.
Thomson 2. The atom is mostly empty space through which electrons travel.
3. Electrons travel around the nucleus, but their exact places
cannot be described.
Niels Bohr´s Atomic Theory
• He is working with Rutherford and on 1913 he suggested that
electrons travel around the nucleus in definite paths (energy level).
• These paths are located in levels at certain distances from the
nucleus. Also, no path are located between the levels, but electrons
can jump from a path in one level to a path in another level.
Niels Bohr
(1885-1962)
Physicist
Niels Bohr´s Atomic Theory
• He is working with Rutherford and on 1913 he suggested that
electrons travel around the nucleus in definite paths (energy level).
• These paths are located in levels at certain distances from the
nucleus. Also, no path are located between the levels, but electrons
can jump from a path in one level to a path in another level.
Bohr´s Planetary model
• His theoryꓽ
Niels Bohr 1. Electrons travel around the nucleus (like planets) in definite
(1885-1962)
paths and fixed distances.
Physicist
2. Electrons can jump from one level to a path in another level.
Schrodinger´s Atomic Theory
• Modern Atomic theory
• In 1926, he developed the electron cloud model. His theory is
based on mathematics which gives the probability of finding
electrons places in an atom. Orbitals are probability clouds where
electrons are most probable to be.
Erwin Schrodinger • His theoryꓽ
(1887-1961)
Physicist 1. The exact path of electrons cannot be predicted.
2. The region which is referred to as the electron cloud, is an
area where electrons can likely be found.
James Chadwick´s discovery of
Neutron
• In 1932, he conducted an experiment in which he bombarded Beryllium with alpha
particles from the natural radioactive decay of Polonium. The resulting radiation showed
high penetration through a lead shield, which could not be explained via the particles
known at that time.
• His theoryꓽ
1. Neutrons have no electrical charge.
2. Neutrons have a mass nearly equal to the mass of proton.
• This also answers the doubts on the mind of scientists during that time as to why there is
no repulsion of the positive charges from protons in the nucleus of an atom. It is because
neutrons (neutralizing particles) stabilizes or neutralizes the charge.
