Evolution of the

Atomic Theory
 John Dalton (1802)
Billiard Ball Model
1. Elements are composed of small indivisible particles called atoms.

2. Atoms of the same element are identical. Atoms of different

elements are different.

3. Atoms of different elements combine

together in simple proportions to
create a compound.

4. In a chemical reaction, atoms are

rearranged, but not changed.
 J.J.Thomson (1903)
Used a cathode ray tube (crooks tube)
and neutral atoms to produce a beam of
negative electrons

Because atoms are neutral

overall, he reasoned that atoms
must also contain positive
charges.
plum pudding model
 Ernest Rutherford (1911)

Shot a beam of positively

charged particles (alpha
particles) at a thin sheet
of gold foil

Expectation all particles will pass straight through

Observations - a small number of particles bounced

straight back and others were deflected
 Gold Foil
Experiment
 Ernest Rutherford
Conclusions: Nuclear Model
Dense, positive nucleus surrounded by negative
electrons
Atom is mostly empty space
 Niels Bohr (1913)

Found that exciting an atom (with light or electricity)

resulted in the emission of specific wavelength(s)
(colours) of light
Called line spectra (absorption or emission)
 Niels Bohr
Why?
 Niels Bohr
Conclusions:
Inferred that electrons can only exist in specific
energy states termed quantized
 Niels Bohr
Planetary Model

electrons surround the

nucleus in specific energy
levels called shells

He discovered that electrons

jump between these shells
by gaining or losing energy
(ground vs. excited state)
Bohr-Rutherford
Model
James Chadwick
(1932)
He discovered
that the nucleus
contains neutral
particles
(neutrons) as
well as positive
particles
 The Periodic Table

Elements originally arranged based on their

chemical properties

In 1869, Dmitri Mendeleev observed that when the

elements were arranged according to increasing
mass a repeating pattern of properties could be
observed.
 The Periodic Table
Arrangement later changed to be based on increasing atomic
number.

The Periodic Law

The chemical and physical properties of the elements repeat in a
regular, periodic pattern when they are arranged according to
their atomic number
 A Glitch in Periodicity? -
Radioactivity
Pierre and Marie Curie
discovered radium
and polonium give
off radiation

As radiation is
released the atom
decays into smaller
atoms until
nonradioactive
 A Glitch in Periodicity? -
Radioactivity
In 1906, Frederick Soddy
observed that lead
atoms produced from
different radioactive ores
(uranium and thorium)
had different masses

Named the different

types of atoms isotopes
 Isotopes
Isotopes have
different numbers of
neutrons in their
atomic nuclei but the
same number of
protons

They therefore have

different atomic
masses
Average Atomic Mass
Gives a weighted average of the mass of all
known isotopes of an element
Gives information about the mass as well as the
isotopic abundance of each isotope