History of Atomic
Structure
Ancient Philosophy
•
•
•
•
Who: Aristotle, Democritus
When: More than 2000 years ago
Where: Greece
What: Aristotle believed in 4 elements: Earth,
Air, Fire, and Water. Democritus believed
that matter was made of small particles he
named “atoms”.
• Why: Aristotle and Democritus used
observation and inferrence to explain the
existence of everything.
Democritus
Aristotle
Alchemists
•
•
•
•
Who: European Scientists
When: 800 – 900 years ago
Where: Europe
What: Their work developed into what is now
modern chemistry.
• Why: Trying to change ordinary materials into
gold.
Alchemic Symbols
Particle Theory
•
•
•
•
Who: John Dalton
When: 1808
Where: England
What: Described atoms as tiny particles that
could not be divided. Thought each element
was made of its own kind of atom.
• Why: Building on the ideas of Democritus in
ancient Greece.
John Dalton
Solid, Tiny Particle
Discovery of Electrons
•
•
•
•
Who: J. J. Thompson
When: 1897
Where: England
What: Thompson discovered that electrons
were smaller particles of an atom and were
negatively charged.
• Why: Thompson knew atoms were neutrally
charged, but couldn’t find the positive
particle.
J. J. Thompson
Electron Charge and Mass
•
•
•
•
Who: Robert A. Millikan (1868-1953)
When:1910
Where: United States
What: Found the quantity of an electron charge in
his oil-drop experiment. He calculated the charge
by suspending negatively charged oil droplets
between two plates and measure the rate of fall
when the voltage was changed.
• Why: Wanted to discover whether electrical charge
occurred in a specific amount.
Robert Millikan
Atomic Structure I
•
•
•
•
Who: Ernest Rutherford
When: 1911
Where: England
What: Conducted an experiment to isolate
the positive particles in an atom. Decided
that the atoms were mostly empty space, but
had a dense central core.
• Why: He knew that atoms had positive and
negative particles, but could not decide how
they were arranged.
Ernest Rutherford
Atomic Structure II
•
•
•
•
Who: Niels Bohr
When: 1913
Where: England
What: Proposed that electrons traveled in
fixed paths around the nucleus. Scientists
still use the Bohr model to show the number
of electrons in each orbit around the nucleus.
• Why: Bohr was trying to show why the
negative electrons were not sucked into the
nucleus of the atom.
Niels Bohr
HELIUM ATOM
Shell
proton
+
-
N
N
+
electron
What do these particles consist of?
-
neutron
Electron Cloud Model-1920s
• Electrons travel around the nucleus in
random orbits.
• Scientists cannot predict where they will be
at any given moment.
• Electrons travel so fast, they appear to form
a “cloud” around the nucleus.
Electron Orbitals
•
•
•
•
Who: Erwin Schrödinger
When: 1926
Where: Austria
What: Develops mathematical equations to
describe the motion of electrons in atoms,
which leads to the quantum mechanical
model
• Why: Wanted to better understand the
movement of the electrons in an atom
Erwin Schrödinger
Electron Cloud Model
Birth of Quantum Mechanics:
•
•
•
•
Who: Werner Heizenberg
When: 1925
Where: Germany
What: Proposed that electrons traveled in
atomic orbitials
• Why: Heizenberg realized that the reason
Bohr’s model failed was that it was trying to
predict none observable variables (position,
speed)
Atomic Structure Timeline
Requirements:
• Must include a title.
• Must include a spot for each of the 7 items.
• Must include at least the Who, When, and What.
• Must have a picture (color is preferred) for each
item.
Options:
1. Comic book format
2. Standard timeline
3. Flip Book