Atom

Andthehistoryoftheatom
Leucippus,aGreekphilosopher,wasthefirstpersonrecordedtobelievethatallmatter consistedofatoms.Hebelievedthateverythingwasmadeupoftinyandindivisible bodiescalledatoms.ThewordatomcomesfromtheGreekwordatomos,whichmeans notdivisible.AccordingtoDemocritus,anotherGreekphilosopherwhoagreedwithwhat Leucippussaid,theseatomswerenotallalike.Hesaidthattheydifferedinsizeand shape,andthatsubstancesweredifferentfromeachotherbecausetheyweremadeupof differenttypesofatoms.OtherGreekphilosophers,suchasAristotle,believedthat everythingwasinsteadmadeupoffourbasicelements:earth,fire,air,andwater,not atoms.ViewssuchasAristotlesdominatedscienceformanycenturies,upuntilthe middleages. Duringtheperioduptothemiddleages,scienceingeneral,andscienceregardingtothe atominparticular,halted.WheninterestinsciencewasrevivedinEurope,aroundthe th th 16 and17 centuries,enoughwasalreadyknownaboutwhatGreekphilosophersnew abouttheatomtocarryontheirwork.JohnDaltonwasbornin1766,anddevelopedthe ancientconceptofatomsintoascientifictheorythatwasthefoundationformodern chemistry.Throughouthislife,DaltonwasveryinterestedintheatmosphereoftheEarth, andherecordedover200000observationsoftheatmosphereinhisnotes.These observationsledDaltontostudyandexperimentwithgases.Fromtheseexperimentshe begantoformulatehistheoriesonatomsandthestructureoftheatom. Histheoryonatomshismostimportantcontributiontosciencewasthatmatteris madeupofatomsofdifferentweights.Hebelievedthatatomscouldcombineinsimple ratiosbyweight.InhisbookANewSystemofChemicalPhilosophy,whichhe publishedin1808,helistedtheweightsofafewknownelementsrelativetotheweightof hydrogen.Althoughtheweightsthatheproposedwerenotentirelyaccurate,theyformed thebaseforthemodernperiodictableofelements. SirJosephJohnThomsonwasbornin1856,andisrecognizedastheBritishscientistwho discoveredandidentifiedtheelectron.In1897Thomsondemonstratedthatcathoderays highspeedelectronsemittedbyanegativeelectrodeofavacuumtubewhenanelectric currentpassesthroughitwereactuallyunitsofelectricalcurrentthatweremadeupof negativelychargedparticlesthatweresmallerthananatom.Hebelievedthattheseatoms wereacentralpartofallmatter,anddevelopedamodelofanatominwhichanumberof negativelychargedelectronswereembeddedinasphereofpositiveelectricity,withthe twochargesneutralizingeachother.

Thomsonsatomicmodel

Thomsonthenbegantoresearchpositivelychargedionsatomsormoleculesthathave anelectricchargewhichispositiveasaresultofhavinganumberofnegativeelectrons unequaltothenumberofpositiveprotonsintheatom.Hisresearchintothisfieldpointed outthepossibilitythatordinaryelementsmightexistasisotopes varietiesofatomsof thesameelement,whichhavethesameatomicnumberbutdifferinmass.

SirErnestRutherfordwasbornin1871inNewZealand.Perhapsmorethananyother scientist,heformedmoderndayviewsaboutthenatureofatomsandmatter.Aroundthe year1898Rutherforddiscoveredanumberofradioactiveatoms.Althoughothershad begantheearliestresearchintoradioactivitywithatoms,Rutherfordsoondominatedthis field.Hefoundtwodifferenttypesofradiation,whichhecalledalphaandbeta.In1902 and1903,Rutherfordfoundoutaboutradioactivehalflifeanddevelopedanideaof radioactivitythatisstillacceptedtoday:thateachdecayoftheatomsofradioactive materialisatransformationofthatelementfromaparentelementintoadaughter element,witheachtypeofatomhavingitsownperiodoftransformation. Rutherfordmadehisgreatestdiscoveryin1909.Inhisresearchhefoundthatafewalpha particles,whenbombardingthinmetalfoils,werebeingdeflectedfromtheirpaththrough morethan90degrees.Rutherfordlaterrespondedtohisexperimentsbysayingthat"It wasalmostasincredible,asifyoufiredafifteeninchshellatapieceoftissuepaperand itcamebackandhityou."Inearly1915heannouncedhisversionofanatomstructure:a verysmall,verytightlypacked,chargednucleuswhichhadelectronsorbitingit.The deflectedalphaparticleswerethosethathadcomeintocloseproximitywiththenucleus andhadreboundedinvariousobliquedirections.

Rutherfordsatomicmodeloftheatom

NielsHenrikDavidBohrwasaDanishphysicistwhowasbornin1885.Heisknow mainlyforhisworkinthefieldofatomictheory.BohrworkedunderErnestRutherford, however,BohrsproblemwithRutherfordsmodeloftheatomwasthat,accordingtothe theoriesofelectrodynamics,theelectronsshouldradiateandthereforeloseenergyand crashintothenucleusoftheatom.Bohrthenworkedrelentlesslyforthreemonths,and wassuccessfulinobtainingaformulawhichcorrectlydescribedhowheliumnucleiwere absorbedbyotheratomicnuclei.Hebelievedthattheenergythatwaslostbyahelium atomicnucleusinflyingthroughanatomdidnotdependonthesizeoftheatom,rather,it dependedonthedistancesbetweenthenucleusandthevariouselectronsintheatom.

NielsBohr In1913Bohrproducedamodeloftheatominwhichradiationwasemittedonlywhen anelectronjumpedfromoneorbit,orshell,toanother.Thefrequencyoflightthatan atomemittedwasnotrelatedtothefrequencyoforintheatom,rather,itwasbasedon thedifferencebetweentwoenergylevelswithintheatom.

Bohrsmodeloftheatom.Electronscanjumpfromalowenergyorbitnearthenucleusto orbitsofhigherenergybyabsorbingenergy(greentrails).Whentheelectronsreturntoa lowerenergylevel(purpletrails),theyreleasetheexcessenergyintheformofradiation ofacharacteristicwavelength,suchasvisiblelight.

SirJamesChadwickwasaBritishphysicistwhowasbornin1891.Scientistswere havingtroublewiththestructureoftheatombeforeChadwickdiscoveredtheneutron. Althoughtheprotonsandelectronsequaledsothattheatomicchargeintheatomwas neutral,theatomsdidnotweighthesamerelativetoeachother.Forexample,ahelium nucleushastwicethechargebutfourtimesthemassofaproton.Clearly,thescientist thought,nucleicontainsomethingmorethanjustprotons.In1932Chadwicksolvedthis problem,withthediscoveryoftheneutron aparticlewithnoelectricchargeandslightly moremassthanaproton,whichsitsinthenucleusoftheatom.In1935Chadwick receivedthe1935NobelPrize,andhewasknightedforhisworkonatomsandatomic theoryin1945. LouisdeBrogliewasbornin1892.Heisbestknownforhistheory,whichheconfirmed in1927,thatmatterhasthepropertiesofbothparticlesandwaves.Thistheorywaslater usedbyErwinSchrdingertodevelopwavemechanics.WhenSchrdingerstudiedthe atom,heabandonedtheideaofpreciseorbits,andreplacedthemwithadescriptionofthe regionsofspace,whichhecalledorbitals,wheretheelectronsweremostlikelytobe found.Thisistheatomicmodeloftheatomthatweusetoday.

TheSchrdingerModeloftheatom