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Practice Atomic Theory Questions
TEKS 6Ai-viii
Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
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1. Rutherford's gold foil experiment showed that the atom is mostly empty space because
a. some of the alpha particles were reflected right back
b. some of the alpha particles were deflected
c. most of the alpha particles went straight through the foil
d. all of the alpha particles went straight through the foil
e. all of the alpha particles were deflected
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2. What was Planck's contribution to the quantum mechanical model of the atom?
a. the uncertainty principle
b. the concept of quanta of energy
c. the idea that every mass has a wave with which it is associated
d. the wave equation
e. a relationship between energy and mass
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3. What did Schrodinger contribute to the quantum mechanical model of the atom?
a. the uncertainty principle
b. concept of quanta of energy
c. the idea that every mass has a wave with which it is associated
d. the wave equation
e. a relationship between energy and mass
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4. "A region of space in which there is a high probability of finding an electron" is the definition of
a. orbital
d. photon
b. absorption spectrum
e. dipole
c. quantum
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5. How was Bohr able to discover the energies of each energy level in the hydrogen atom?
a. using the fact that most alpha particles went straight through the gold foil
b. using the fact that some alpha particles were deflected by the gold foil
c. using the line spectrum of hydrogen when it is excited
d. using the fact that atoms are electrically neutral
e. none of the above
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6. Which technology demonstrates the principles of quantum mechanics?
a. laser
d. MRI
b. spectrophotometer
e. all of the above
c. X-ray machine
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7. In which of the following situations is a spectrophotometer a useful instrument?
a. producing new substances
d. microsurgery
b. producing high energy photons
e. all of the above
c. detecting trace amounts of substances
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8. The first scientist to develop a model of the atom which he described as looking like “plum pudding”
a. John Dalton
d. James Chadwick
b. Lord Kelvin
e. JJ Thomson
c. Ernest Rutherford
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9. The scientist whose alpha-particle scattering experiment led him to conclude that the nucleus of an atom
contains a dense center of positive charge is?
a. John Dalton
d. James Chadwick
b. Lord Kelvin
e. JJ Thomson
c. Ernest Rutherford
____ 10. Many classic experiments have given us indirect evidence of the nature of the atom. Which of the
experiments listed below did not give the results described?
a. The Rutherford experiment proved the Thomson “plum-pudding” model of the atom to be
essentially correct.
b. The Rutherford experiment was useful in determining the nuclear charge on the atom.
c. Milikan’s oil-drop experiment showed that the charge on any particle was a simple
multiple of the charge on the electron.
d. The electric discharge tube proved that electrons have a negative charge.
Short Answer
11. According to Bohr, why do electrons travel in specific energy levels around the nucleus?
12. Distinguish between the terms "photon" and "quantum".
13. What do chemists use Schrodinger's equation to do?
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