Powerpoint for Scientist

Contributions and the Modern

Theory of Atoms

Mrs. Rigby
Science 8
 What is the smallest unit of matter?

Can we see atoms?

So, how do we know about them?

Powers of 10
At what point can you no longer see the objects with your eyes?

What tools would help magnify things?

Size of an atom: 0.00000002 cm or 2 hundred millionth of a cm
Excuse me, how can you discover a particle
so small that nobody has ever seen one?
 Democritus

Greek Philosopher
400 B C
Atomos
 Democritus

• 460 BC - Greek philosopher proposes the

existence of the atom

• He pounded materials until he made them

into smaller and smaller parts

• He called them atoma which is Greek for

“indivisible”.
 Democritus
• His Theory:
All atoms:
– Are small hard particles

– Are made of a single material formed into

different shapes and sizes

– Are always moving, and they form different

materials by joining together
 John Dalton

• 1803 - British chemist; elements combine in

specific proportions to form compounds

Solid Sphere Model

 John Dalton
• His Theory:
 All substances are made of atoms that cannot be
created, divided, or destroyed.

 Atoms join with other atoms to make new

substances.

 Atoms of the same element are exactly alike, and

atoms of different elements are different in mass
and size.
 Edward Frankland
• 1852 - English chemist; developed the valence
theory

• His theory:
– Every atom has a fixed number of bonds that it
can form
– For the atom to be stable, all of these bonds must
be used
 J.J. Thomson
• 1897 - English chemist and physicist;
discovered 1st subatomic particles

Plum Pudding Model or

Raisin Bun Model
Proposed by J.J. Thomson
 J.J. Thomson
• His Theory:
– Atoms contain negatively charged particles called
electrons and positively charged matter.

– Created a model to describe the atom as a sphere

filled with positive matter with negative particles
mixed in

– Referred to it as the plum pudding model

 Ernest Rutherford
• 1912 - New Zealand physicist discovered the
nucleus

Nuclear Model
Proposed by Ernest
Rutherford
 Ernest Rutherford

• His Theory:
 Small, dense, positively charged particle present in
nucleus called a proton

 Electrons travel around the nucleus, but their

exact places cannot be described.
 Niels Bohr
• 1913 - Danish physicist; discovered energy
levels

Bohr Model or Planetary

Model
Proposed by Niels Bohr
 Niels Bohr
• His Theory:
 Electrons travel around the nucleus in definite
paths and fixed distances.

 Electrons can jump from one level to a path in

another level.
 Erwin Shrodinger
• 1912 - Austrian physicist; developed the
electron cloud model

Electron Cloud Model

Proposed by Erwin
Schrodinger
 Erwin Shrodinger

• His Theory:
 The exact path of electrons cannot be predicted.

 The region referred to as the electron cloud, is an

area where electrons can likely be found.
 James Chadwick
• 1924 - English physicist; discovered neutrons
• His Theory:
 Neutrons have no electrical charge.
 Neutrons have a mass nearly equal to the mass of
a proton.
 Unit of measurement for subatomic particles is
the atomic mass unit (amu).
 Modern Theory of the Atom

• Atoms are composed of three main subatomic

particles: the electron, proton, and neutron.

• Most of the mass of the atom is concentrated in the

nucleus of the atom.
 Modern Theory of the Atom

• The protons and neutrons are located within the

nucleus, while the electrons exist outside of the
nucleus.

• In stable atoms, the number of protons is equal to

the number of electrons.
 Modern Theory of the Atom

• The type of atom is determined by the number of

protons it has.

• The number of protons in an atom is equal to the

atomic number.
 Modern Theory of the Atom

• The sum of the number of protons and neutrons in a

particular atom is called the atomic mass.

• Valence electrons are the outermost electrons.