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Structure of atom: Discovery of electrons, protons

and neutrons

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The following discussion has been contributed by Subhasish Sutradhar

Contents [hide]
 1 Discovery of Electron
o 1.1 Who discovered the electron?
o 1.2 What is cathode ray?
o 1.3 Properties of cathode ray particle
o 1.4 Millikan Oil Drop Experiment
o 1.5 What we have learned
 2 Discovery of Proton
o 2.1 Gold Foil Experiment
 2.1.1 Results
 2.1.2 Conclusion
 3 Discovery of Neutron
o 3.1 What we have learned
 4 Further studies
 5 References

Discovery of Electron
Who discovered the electron?
Electron was discovered by J. J. Thomson in 1897 when he was studying the properties of cathode
ray.

Figure 1. J. J. Thomson won Nobel Prize in 1906 for discovering the elementary particle electron. Interestingly, his son G. P. Thomson

also won the Nobel Prize in 1937 for proving the wavelike properties of electron.1
What is cathode ray?
J. J. Thomson constructed a glass tube which was partially evacuated i.e. much of the air was
pumped out of the tube. Then he applied a high electrical voltage between two electrodes at either
end of the tube. He detected that a stream of particle (ray) was coming out from the negatively
charged electrode (cathode) to positively charged electrode (anode). This ray is called cathode ray
and the whole construction is called cathode ray tube. The schematic of a cathode ray tube is given
in figure 2.

Figure 2. Cathode ray tube

Properties of cathode ray particle
1. They travel in straight lines.

2. They are independent of the material composition of the cathode.

3. Applying electric field in the path of cathode ray deflects the ray towards positively charged plate.
Hence cathode ray consists of negatively charged particles.

Figure 3. Deflection of cathode rays towards positively charged plates

J. J. Thomson measured the charge-by-mass-ratio (e/m) of cathode ray particle using deflection in
both electric and magnetic field.

em=−1.76×108em=−1.76×108 coulomb per gram

The cathode ray particle turned out to be 2000 times lighter than hydrogen.

Although we got e/m ratio for electron from J.J. Thomson’s Cathode Ray Tube experiment, we still
don’t know the exact charge (e) for electron. American physicist Robert Millikan designed an
experiment to measure the absolute value of the charge of electron which is discussed below.
Millikan Oil Drop Experiment

Figure 4. Robert Millikan discovered charge of electron and won Noble prize in physics in 1923.2

In 1909, American physicist R. Millikan measured the charge of an electron using negatively charged
oil droplets. The measured charge (e) of an electron is −1.60×10−19−1.60×10−19 Coulombs.

Using the measured charge of electron, we can calculate the mass of electron from e/m ratio given
by J. J. Thomson’s cathode ray experiment.

em=−1.76×108em=−1.76×108 Coulomb-per-gram
m=e−1.76×108m=e−1.76×108
Putting e=−1.60×10−19e=−1.60×10−19 Coulomb,
m=9.1×10−28m=9.1×10−28 gram.
What we have learned
1. Electron was discovered by J. J. Thomson in Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) experiment.
2. Electrons are negatively charged particles with charge-to-mass ratio −1.76×108−1.76×108 C/gm
3. The charge of an electron was measured by R. Millikan in Oil drop experiment.
4. Charge of an electron is −1.60×10−19−1.60×10−19 C
5. Mass of an electron is 9.1×10−289.1×10−28 gram.
6. Electron is approximately 20002000 times lighter than hydrogen.
Discovery of Proton

Figure 5. Schematic gold foil experiment

In 1909, Rutherford discovered proton in his famous gold foil experiment.

Gold Foil Experiment

In his gold foil experiment, Rutherford bombarded a beam of alpha particles on an ultrathin gold foil
and then detected the scattered alpha particles in zinc sulfide (ZnS) screen.

Results
1. Most of the particles pass through the foil without any deflection.
2. Some of the alpha particles deflect at small angle.
3. Very few even bounce back (1 in 20,000).
Conclusion

Based on his observations, Rutherford proposed the following structural features of an atom:

1. Most of the atom’s mass and its entire positive charge are confined in a small core, called nucleus. The
positively charged particle is called proton.
2. Most of the volume of an atom is empty space.
 3. The number of negatively charged electrons dispersed outside the nucleus is same as number of
positively charge in the nucleus. It explains the overall electrical neutrality of an atom.

Discovery of Neutron
From the previous discussion, we can see that the gold foil experiment gave a clear picture of the
structure of an atom which consists of protons (nucleus) and same number of electrons outside of
the nucleus.

Figure 6. Schematic diagram for the experiment that led to the discovery of neutrons by

Chadwick.94Be+42α⟶[136C]⟶[126C]+10n49Be+24α⟶[613C]⟶[612C]+01n
But scientists soon realized that the atomic model offered by Rutherford is not complete. Various
experiments showed that mass of the nucleus is approximately twice than the number of proton.
What is the origin of this additional mass? Rutherford postulated the existence of some neutral
particle having mass similar to proton but there was no direct experimental evidence.

Several theories and experimental observations eventually led the discovery of neutron. We can
summarize some of the scientific observations behind the discovery of neutron.
 In 1930, W. Bothe and H. Becker found an electrically neutral radiation when they bombarded
beryllium with alpha particle. They thought it was photons with high energy (gamma rays).
 In 1932, Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie showed that this ray can eject protons when it hits
paraffin or H-containing compounds.
 The question arose that how mass less photon could eject protons which are 1836 times
heavier than electrons. So the ejected rays in bombardment of beryllium with alpha particles
cannot be photon.
 In 1932, James Chadwick performed the same experiment as Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie but
he used many different target of bombardment besides paraffin. By analyzing the energies of
different targets after bombardment he discovered the existence of a new particle which is
charge less and has similar mass to proton. This particle is called neutron. Beryllium undergoes
the following reaction when it is bombarded with alpha particle.
94Be+42α⟶[136C]⟶[126C]+10n49Be+24α⟶[613C]⟶[612C]+01n
Here the symbol XZAZXA is used where Z = atomic number and X = atomic mass of the element A.

Figure 7. Ernest Rutherford (left) was awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908 for his work in radioactivity. James Chadwick (on the

right), a student of Rutherford won Nobel Prize in Physics in 1935 for discovery of neutron.3
 Figure 8. The gold foil experiment was originally conducted by Hans Geiger (left) and Ernest Marsden (right) under the supervision of

Ernest Rutherford at the University of Manchester.4

What we have learned

 Atomic mass = mass of protons + mass of neutron.
 For a neutral
atom, number of
proton=number of
Particle Symbol Charge Mass electron.
 Measured
masses and
Electron e– -1.60×10-19 C 9.1×10-31 kg charges of the three
elementary particles
are given in the
Proton p+ (H+) 1.60×10-19 C 1.672×10-27 kg following table.

Neutron n0 0.00 C 1.674×10-27 kg

Further studies
NCERT online text book
PBS atom builder

References
References for this article

1. This image is in the public domain [ ]

2. This photograph is in the public domain. [ ]

3. These images are in the public domain, see here and here [ ]
4. The photograph of Hans Geiger is in the public domain, see here and the photograph of Ernest Marsden is reproduced with the

permission of the National Library of New Zealand [ ]