different theories of the atom

1. Atomic Theory
• Democritus (440 BCE)- realized that if you
continued to cut something, eventually you
would end up with something that couldn’t
be cut anymore, atomos – meaning not
able to divide
• Atoms are the smallest particle that an
element can be divided and still be the
same substance
• All matter is made of atoms

3. John Dalton (1803)
• realized that atoms combine in very specific
ratios based on mass
• all substances are made of atoms and they can
not be created, divided or destroyed because
they were made of a single substance
• All atoms of the same element are exactly alike
and different from other elements, they are
unique
• Atoms join with other atoms to form new
substance
• Solid ball

4. Billiard Ball Model

5. J. J. Thomson (1897)
• discovered that there were small particles
inside the atom (electrons), meaning that
atoms can be divided into smaller
substances
• Electrons – negatively charged particles
attracted to positively charged particles
• Plum pudding model – electrons are mixed
throughout the atom, soft blobs of matter
• Cathode ray tube experiment

7. Plum Pudding Model

8. Ernest Rutherford (1909)
• Discovered that an atom contains a
nucleus with positively charged particles
and that the electrons must be “floating”
around the nucleus
• Most of an atom is empty space
• Gold foil experiment

11. Niels Bohr (1913)
• Proposed that electron moved around the
nucleus in energy levels (shells), but no
electrons between the energy level (think
ladder)
• Electrons can jump from one level to
another
• Travel in a definite path – solar system
model

12. Solar System Model

13. Modern Atomic Theory
• Erwin Schrödinger & Werner Heisenberg
• Electrons have no predictable pattern and
move in a region where electrons are likely
to be found called the electron cloud

14. Electron Cloud Model

16. Atoms
• All atoms have a nucleus
– protons (+),
– neutrons (no charge: neutral)
– electrons (-)
• Same number of protons and electrons an atom
has no charge
• More protons (+) than electrons (-) the atom has
a positive ion is formed (more positives than negatives)
• More electrons (-) than protons (+) a negative
ion is formed (more negatives than positives)

17. • 118 different element that are unique and
all things known to exist come from a
combination of these elements in specific
mass ratios
• Simplest atom is made of one proton, and
1 electron – hydrogen (has no neutrons)

18. • All additional elements will have protons,
neutrons and electrons
• The atomic number of an element is
determined by the number of protons,
– 1 is hydrogen, 6 is carbon, hydrogen has 1
proton, carbon has 6 protons (you can not
change the number of protons)
• To find neutrons take the mass number
(rounded) and subtract the protons.

19. Isotopes
• Isotopes have the same number of protons but
additional neutrons which causes the atomic
mass to be different
• Isotopes can be stable (maintain their structure)
and unstable (fall apart over time)
• Unstable isotopes are radioactive and will decay
over time giving off particles and energy
(radioactive)

20. • Mass number determines the isotope, the
number of protons and neutrons added
together
• Most elements have isotopes
• All isotopes of an element have the exact
properties of the element

21. Forces in atoms
• Gravitational force – pulls objects toward
each other—depends on mass and
distances between the objects—very small
force in atoms
• Electromagnetic force –– proton (+) and
electrons (-) have strong attraction which
keeps the electrons in motion around the
nucleus of atoms

22. • Strong force – force which keeps protons
from flying apart due to close distance
between protons and neutrons
• Weak force – relevant to radioactive
atoms- allows neutrons to change into
proton and electron