Title: JavaLab Atomic Model Simulation.

Introduction: The scientific notion that matter is made up of tiny bits called atoms is known as
atomic theory. The atom is the smallest unit of substance into which electrically charged particles
may be split without releasing them. It's also the smallest unit of matter with chemical element
characteristics. Throughout the history of atomic physics, there have been a variety of atomic
models. This mostly relates to the time from the beginning of the 19th century to the first part of
the 20th century, when a definitive model of the atom was created (or recognized as the most
accurate one). Dalton model, Thomson model (Plum pudding model), and Lewis model (Cubical
atom) are some of the atomic models.

Theory & Methodology:

Matter Wave and de Broglie’s Atomic Model: Light has both particle and wave properties at the
same time. De Broglie’s hypothesis of matter waves postulates that any particle of matter that has
linear momentum is also a wave. The wavelength of a matter-wave associated with a particle is
inversely proportional to the magnitude of the particle’s linear momentum. The speed of the
matter-wave is the speed of the particle. This is the idea of the de Broglie waves, or de Broglie's
matter waves. Let us consider a hydrogen atom with Bohr's quantum theory. In that theory, the
quantum condition to determine the atom's stationary states seems to claim that the circumference
of the orbit of the electron revolving about the nucleus should be an integral multiple of the
wavelength of the de Broglie wave of the electron. This quantum condition says that the de Broglie
wave of the electron must be a continuous standing wave around the nucleus.

Figure 1: de Broglie and the Bohr Model

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Rutherford Scattering and Size of Nucleus
Rutherford model, also called Rutherford atomic model, nuclear atom, or planetary model of the
atom, description of the structure of atoms proposed (1911) by the New Zealand-born physicist
Ernest Rutherford. The model described the atom as a tiny, dense, positively charged core called
a nucleus, in which nearly all the mass is concentrated, around which the light, negative
constituents, called electrons, circulate at some distance, much like planets revolving around the
Sun.

Figure 2: Rutherford's Atomic Model

The nucleus was postulated as small and dense to account for the scattering of alpha particles from
thin gold foil, as observed in a series of experiments performed by undergraduate Ernest Marsden
under the direction of Rutherford and German physicist Hans Geiger in 1909. A radioactive source
emitting alpha particles (i.e., positively charged particles, identical to the helium atom nucleus and
7,000 times more massive than electrons) was enclosed within a protective lead shield. The
radiation was focused into a narrow beam after passing through a slit in a lead screen. A thin
section of gold foil was placed in front of the slit, and a screen coated with zinc sulfide to render
it fluorescent served as a counter to detect alpha particles. As each alpha particle struck the
fluorescent screen, it produced a burst of light called a scintillation, which was visible through a
viewing microscope attached to the back of the screen. The screen itself was movable, allowing

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Rutherford and his associates to determine whether or not any alpha particles were being deflected
by the gold foil.

Most alpha particles passed straight through the gold foil, which implied that atoms are mostly
composed of open space. Some alpha particles were deflected slightly, suggesting interactions
with other positively charged particles within the atom. Still other alpha particles were scattered
at large angles, while a very few even bounced back toward the source. (Rutherford famously said
later, “It was almost as incredible as if you fired a 15-inch shell at a piece of tissue paper and it
came back and hit you.”) Only a positively charged and relatively heavy target particle, such as
the proposed nucleus, could account for such strong repulsion. The negative electrons that
balanced electrically the positive nuclear charge were regarded as traveling in circular orbits about
the nucleus. The electrostatic force of attraction between electrons and nucleus was likened to the
gravitational force of attraction between the revolving planets and the Sun. Most of this planetary
atom was open space and offered no resistance to the passage of the alpha particles.

Size of the Nucleus

It was possible to obtain the size of the nucleus through Rutherford’s experiment. We can calculate
the size of the nucleus, by obtaining the point of closest approach of an alpha particle. By shooting
alpha particles of kinetic energy 5.5 MeV, the point of closest approach was estimated to be about
4×10-14m. Since the repulsive force acting here is Coulomb repulsion, there is no contact. This
means that the size of the nucleus is smaller than 4×10-14m.

The sizes of the nuclei of various elements have been accurately measured after conducting many
more iterations of the experiment. Having done this, a formula to measure the size of the nucleus
was determined.

R =R0A13
Where R0 = 1.2×10-15m.

From the formula, we can conclude that the volume of the nucleus which is proportional to R3 is
proportional to A (mass number). Another thing to be noticed in the equation is that there is no
mention of density in the equation. This is due to the fact that the density of the nuclei does not
vary with elements. The density of the nucleus is approximately 2.3×1017 kg.m-3.

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Spectrum of Hydrogen Atom
A hydrogen atom consists of an electron orbiting its nucleus. The electromagnetic force between
the electron and the nuclear proton leads to a set of quantum states for the electron, each with its
own energy. These states were visualized by the Bohr model of the hydrogen atom as being distinct
orbits around the nucleus. Each energy state, or orbit, is designated by an integer, n as shown in
the figure. The Bohr model was later replaced by quantum mechanics in which the electron
occupies an atomic orbital rather than an orbit, but the allowed energy levels of the hydrogen atom
remained the same as in the earlier theory.

Spectral emission occurs when an electron transitions, or jumps, from a higher energy state to a
lower energy state. To distinguish the two states, the lower energy state is commonly designated
as n′, and the higher energy state is designated as n. The energy of an emitted photon corresponds
to the energy difference between the two states. Because the energy of each state is fixed, the
energy difference between them is fixed, and the transition will always produce a photon with the
same energy.

The spectral lines are grouped into series according to n′. Lines are named sequentially starting
from the longest wavelength/lowest frequency of the series, using Greek letters within each series.
For example, the 2 → 1 line is called "Lyman-alpha" (Ly-α), while the 7 → 3 line is called
"Paschen-delta” (Pa-δ).

Quantum leap

Electrons in atoms absorb energy and can rise to high orbits. The way to obtain energy is as
follows.

• Collides with other atoms and absorbs some of kinetic energy

• Obtain kinetic energy after colliding with free electrons
• Absorb light energy

Conversely, electrons with high orbits can fall into low orbit and releasing energy (e.g., 5 → 2).
At this time, energy is released in the form of light.

The electron orbit is only an integer value and can not be in between. For example, n = 3.2 can not
be. Therefore, only spectra of specific wavelengths are observed.

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 Figure 3: Electron transitions and their resulting wavelengths for Hydrogen

Atomic Structure & Electron Configuration: Electron configurations are the summary of where
the electrons are around a nucleus. As we learned earlier, each neutral atom has a number of
electrons equal to its number of protons. What we will do now is place those electrons into an
arrangement around the nucleus that indicates their energy and the shape of the orbital in which
they are located. Here is a summary of the types of orbitals and how many electrons each can
contain:

So based on what we know about the quantum numbers and using the chart above, you need 2
electrons to fill an s orbital, 6 electrons to fill a p orbital, 10 electrons to fill a d orbital and 14

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electrons to fill the f orbital. BUT what we haven't discussed is how these orbitals get filled...the
order of fill.

Order of Fill

The order in which electrons are placed into the orbitals is based on the order of their energy. This
is referred to as the Aufbau principle. The lowest energy orbitals fill first. Just like the quantum
numbers themselves this order was determined by calculation and is summarized by the following
chart:

Figure 4: Ordering of orbit

Simulation & Result:

Matter Wave and de Broglie’s Atomic Model

Figure 5: Simulation Diagram of Rutherford's Model of Matter Wave for 3rd Orbit 4th orbit & 5th orbit

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Rutherford Scattering and Size of Nucleus

Figure 6: Simulation Diagram of Rutherford Scattering for 7Mev Energy

Figure 7: Simulation Diagram of Nucleus of Rutherford Scattering for 7Mev Energy

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Spectrum of Hydrogen Atom

Figure 8: Simulation Diagram of Hydrogen Spectrum when Electron moves to 2nd Orbit

Figure 9: Simulation Diagram of Hydrogen Spectrum when Electron moves to 8th Orbit

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 Table I: Spectrum of Hydrogen
Orbit Wavelength Energy Comments
1st 94.9 nm -13.0 eV Light Emission
2nd 434.0 nm -2.8 eV Light Emission
3rd 281.9 nm -0.9 eV Light Emission
4th 4051.4 nm -0.3 eV Light Emission
6th 7458.3 nm 0.1 eV Light Absorption
7th 4652.8 nm 0.2 eV Light Absorption
8th 3739.8 nm 0.3 eV Light Absorption

Atomic Structure & Electron Configuration

For Lithium:

(a) Atomic Structure of Li (b) Electron Configuration of Li

Figure 10: Atomic Structure & Electron Configuration of Lithium

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 (a) Atomic Structure of Mg (b) Electron Configuration of Mg
Figure 11: Atomic Structure & Electron Configuration of Magnesium.

Discussion: In this exercise, we learned about the atomic model in Java Lab. Here, we simulate
Matter Wave de Broglie's Atomic model, Rutherford Scattering and Nucleus Size, Hydrogen Atom
Spectrum, and Atom Electron Configuration. According to De Broglie's theory of matter waves,
each particle of matter with linear momentum is also a wave. The magnitude of a particle's linear
momentum is inversely proportional to the wavelength of a matter wave associated with that
particle. The particle's speed is equal to the speed of the matter wave. The quantization of the
electron's angular momentum in Bohr's model of the hydrogen atom is justified by De Broglie's
idea of the electron matter wave.As the main objective of this lab is to simulated JavaLab Atomic
Model so we can say that our sab was successfully achieved.

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References:
[1]http://kolibri.teacherinabox.org.au/modules/enboundless/www.boundless.com/physics/textbo
oks/boundless-physics-textbook/atomic-physics-29/the-early-atom-185/de-broglie-and-the-bohr-
model-692-6303/images/waves-on-a-string/index.html

[2] https://byjus.com/physics/size-of-the-nucleus/

[3] https://www.chem.fsu.edu/chemlab/chm1045/e_config.html

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