Atomic Timeline: Date Scientist Discovery/Theory

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ATOMIC TIMELINE

Date Scientist Discovery/Theory


Proposed that matter was composed of
400BC Democritus tiny indivisible particles

Atom is a uniform, solid sphere


 Elements are composed of small
indivisible particles called atoms
 Atoms of the same element are
identical. Atoms of different
element are different
1807 John Dalton  Atoms of different elements
combine together in simple
proportions to create a
compound
 In a chemical reaction, atoms are
rearranged, but not change

The structure of atoms is somehow


1839 Michael Faraday
related to electricity
Discovered radioactivity
 Alpha
1896 Henri Becquerel  Beta
 Gamma

 Moseley’s Atomic# - each


1887-1915 Henry Moseley element contains a unique
number of protons.
 Cathode Ray Tube experiments
– beam of negative particles
 Discovered electrons – negative
particles within atom
1903 J.J. Thomson  Plum-pudding model – positive
sphere (pudding) with negative
electrons (plums) dispersed
throughout.

 Measured the charge of an


electron using oil droplets

Electron’s Charge:
1909 Robert Millikan 1.60 x 10-19C

Electron’s Mass:
9.11 x 10-28g

1911 Ernest Rutherford  Positive charge is not like a


pudding, but concentrated in the
nucleus.
 Most of an atom is empty space
 Gold foil experiment
 Discovered the nucleus – dense,
positive charge in the center of
the atom
 Nuclear model – dense, positive
nucleus surrounded by negative
electrons

 Bright-line spectrum – tried to


explain presence of specific
colors in hydrogen’s spectrum
 Energy levels – electrons can
only exist in specific energy
1913 Niels Bohr
states
 Planetary model-electrons move
in circular orbits within specific
energy levels

 Wave Mechanical Model –


electrons can act like particles
and waves (just like light)
Louis de Broglie and
1924 Electrons occupy orbitals.
Erwin Schrödinger
Orbitals are nothing like orbits.
They are areas of probability.

 Quantum Mechanics – electrons


can only exist in specified
energy states
1926 Erwin Schrödinger  Electron cloud model – orbital:
region around the nucleus where
é are likely to be found.

 Discovered neutrons – neutral


1932 James Chadwick particles in the nucleus of an
atom
 Murray Gell- Mann was an
American physicist who
received a Nobel Prize for his
theory on elementary particles.
He also found that all the
elements of an atom are held
together by quarks. To find this,
he blasted high speed electrons
into a hydrogen atom.
Murray Gell-Man and
1964  George Zweig proposed the
Georg Zweig
existence of quarks. He thought
of them as aces, because he
guessed there were four quarks
in every atom. Now, in the same
year, both these guys proposed
the idea of quarks. They tested
electrical charges, and that how
the numbers for quarks came
about.

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