The history of the atom

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The history of the atom
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  • John Dalton believed that all atoms of a given element were identical. His theory also said that compounds were combinations of multiple types of atom.
  • Following the discovery of subatomic particles and isotopes some of Dalton's theories have had to be modified.
  • 1803
  • His theory stated that all matter is made up from atoms, which are invisible tiny hard balls. Lastly his theory said that chemical reactions were rearrangements of atoms.
  • J.J Thomson discovered the electron, a negatively charged subatomic particle far smaller than an atom, during experiments with a cathode ray. Thomson's discoveries of the subatomic particle Dalton's theory of an indestructible atom.
  • Experiments using gold later disproved Thomson's plum pudding model, the theory that negatively-charged electrons are inside a positively-charged "soup" like raisins in a plum pudding.
  • 1897
  • 1909
  • Ernest Rutherford developed a new atomic model after an experiment where he shot positively charged particles through thin gold foil. Instead of travelling straight through some of the particles deflected. This didn't make sense with Thomson's model as there would be nothing dense or heavy enough to deflect the particles.
  • Rutherford came to the conclusion that the positive charge must be concentrated over a small volume in the atom as only a few alpha particles were deflected, and because most of the particles passed through the majority of the atom must be empty space. With these conclusions he developed the nuclear model, with a very dense nucleus and electrons orbiting it.
  • Niels Bohr adapted Rutherford's model in a number of ways. Firstly he suggested that electrons have fixed shells and that energy is given out when 'excited' electrons lose energy.Bohr also said that electrons were localised in the nucleus and could also orbit it in a random way.
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