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Rutherford atomic model Physicist Ernest Rutherford envisioned the atom as a

miniature solar system, with electrons orbiting around a massive nucleus, and as mostly
empty space, with the nucleus occupying only a very small part of the atom. The
neutron had not yet been discovered when Rutherford proposed his model, which had a
nucleus consisting only of protons.(more)

atomic theory
physics
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Table of Contents
Key People:
 Niels Bohr

John Dalton

Hans Bethe

Democritus
Related Topics:

atom

atomism
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atomic theory, ancient philosophical speculation that all things can be

accounted for by innumerable combinations of hard, small, indivisible
particles (called atoms) of various sizes but of the same basic material; or
the modern scientific theory of matter according to which the chemical
elements that combine to form the great variety of substances consist
themselves of aggregations of similar subunits (atoms) possessing nuclear
and electron substructure characteristic of each element. The ancient
atomic theory was proposed in the 5th century BCE by the Greek
philosophers Leucippus and Democritus and was revived in the 1st
century BCE by the Roman philosopher and poet Lucretius. The modern
atomic theory, which has undergone continuous refinement, began to
flourish at the beginning of the 19th century with the work of the English
chemist John Dalton. The experiments of the British physicist Ernest
Rutherford in the early 20th century on the scattering of alpha
particles from a thin gold foil established the Rutherford atomic model of
an atom as consisting of a central, positively charged nucleus containing
nearly all the mass and surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged
planetlike electrons.

With the advent of quantum mechanics and the Schrödinger equation in the
1920s, atomic theory became a precise mathematical science. Austrian
physicist Erwin Schrödinger devised a partial differential equation for
the quantum dynamics of atomic electrons, including the electrostatic
repulsion of all the negatively charged electrons from each other and their
attraction to the positively charged nucleus. The equation can be solved
exactly for an atom containing only a single electron (hydrogen), and very
close approximations can be found for atoms containing two or three
electrons (helium and lithium, respectively). To the extent that the
Schrödinger equation can be solved for more-complex cases, atomic theory
is capable of predicting from first principles the properties of all atoms and
their interactions. The recent availability of high-speed supercomputers to
solve the Schrödinger equation has made possible accurate calculations of
properties for atoms and molecules with ever larger numbers of electrons.
Precise agreement with experiment is obtained if small corrections due to
the effects of the theory of special relativity and quantum
electrodynamics are also included.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Erik
Gregersen.
SciencePhysics

quantum mechanics
physics
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Written by

Gordon Leslie Squires

Fact-checked by

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Nov 22, 2024 • Article History

Table of Contents
Key People:

Werner Heisenberg

John von Neumann

P.A.M. Dirac

Richard Feynman

Pascual Jordan
Related Topics:

quantum field theory

quantum

S-matrix

energy level

wave mechanics
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 National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Maxwell’s Demon in Quantum
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News •
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quantum mechanics, science dealing with the behaviour

of matter and light on the atomic and subatomic scale. It attempts to
describe and account for the properties of molecules and atoms and their
constituents—electrons, protons, neutrons, and other
more esoteric particles such as quarks and gluons. These properties include
the interactions of the particles with one another and with electromagnetic
radiation (i.e., light, X-rays, and gamma rays).

The behaviour of matter and radiation on the atomic scale often seems
peculiar, and the consequences of quantum theory are accordingly difficult
to understand and to believe. Its concepts frequently conflict with common-
sense notions derived from observations of the everyday world. There is no
reason, however, why the behaviour of the atomic world should conform to
that of the familiar, large-scale world. It is important to realize that
quantum mechanics is a branch of physics and that the business of physics
is to describe and account for the way the world—on both the large and the
small scale—actually is and not how one imagines it or would like it to be.

The study of quantum mechanics is rewarding for several reasons. First, it

illustrates the essential methodology of physics. Second, it has been
enormously successful in giving correct results in practically every situation
to which it has been applied. There is, however, an intriguing paradox. In
spite of the overwhelming practical success of quantum mechanics, the
foundations of the subject contain unresolved problems—in particular,
problems concerning the nature of measurement. An essential feature of
quantum mechanics is that it is generally impossible, even in principle, to
measure a system without disturbing it; the detailed nature of this
disturbance and the exact point at which it occurs are obscure and
controversial. Thus, quantum mechanics attracted some of the ablest
scientists of the 20th century, and they erected what is perhaps the
finest intellectual edifice of the period.
Historical basis of quantum theory
Basic considerations
At a fundamental level, both radiation and matter have characteristics
of particles and waves. The gradual recognition by scientists that radiation
has particle-like properties and that matter has wavelike properties
provided the impetus for the development of quantum mechanics.
Influenced by Newton, most physicists of the 18th century believed that
light consisted of particles, which they called corpuscles. From about 1800,
evidence began to accumulate for a wave theory of light. At about this
time Thomas Young showed that, if monochromatic light passes through a
pair of slits, the two emerging beams interfere, so that a fringe pattern of
alternately bright and dark bands appears on a screen. The bands are
readily explained by a wave theory of light. According to the theory, a bright
band is produced when the crests (and troughs) of the waves from the two
slits arrive together at the screen; a dark band is produced when the crest
of one wave arrives at the same time as the trough of the other, and the
effects of the two light beams cancel. Beginning in 1815, a series of
experiments by Augustin-Jean Fresnel of France and others showed that,
when a parallel beam of light passes through a single slit, the emerging
beam is no longer parallel but starts to diverge; this phenomenon is known
as diffraction. Given the wavelength of the light and the geometry of the
apparatus (i.e., the separation and widths of the slits and the distance from
the slits to the screen), one can use the wave theory to calculate the
expected pattern in each case; the theory agrees precisely with the
experimental data.
Early developments
Planck’s radiation law
By the end of the 19th century, physicists almost universally accepted the
wave theory of light. However, though the ideas of classical physics
explain interference and diffraction phenomena relating to
the propagation of light, they do not account for the absorption and
emission of light. All bodies radiate electromagnetic energy as heat; in fact,
a body emits radiation at all wavelengths. The energy radiated at different
wavelengths is a maximum at a wavelength that depends on the
temperature of the body; the hotter the body, the shorter the wavelength
for maximum radiation. Attempts to calculate the energy distribution for the
radiation from a blackbody using classical ideas were unsuccessful. (A
blackbody is a hypothetical ideal body or surface that absorbs and reemits
all radiant energy falling on it.) One formula, proposed by Wilhelm Wien of
Germany, did not agree with observations at long wavelengths, and
another, proposed by Lord Rayleigh (John William Strutt) of England,
disagreed with those at short wavelengths.
 Britannica Quiz

All About Physics Quiz

In 1900 the German theoretical physicist Max Planck made a bold

suggestion. He assumed that the radiation energy is emitted, not
continuously, but rather in discrete packets called quanta. The energy E of
the quantum is related to the frequency ν by E = hν. The quantity h, now
known as Planck’s constant, is a universal constant with the approximate
value of 6.62607 × 10−34 joule∙second. Planck showed that the calculated
energy spectrum then agreed with observation over the entire wavelength
range.

Einstein and the photoelectric

effect
photoelectric effect: Einstein's Nobel Prize-winning discoveryBrian Greene discusses the
key formula in the photoelectric effect, an insight that helped launch the quantum
revolution. This video is an episode in his Daily Equation series.(more)
See all videos for this article
In 1905 Einstein extended Planck’s hypothesis to explain the photoelectric
effect, which is the emission of electrons by a metal surface when it is
irradiated by light or more-energetic photons. The kinetic energy of the
emitted electrons depends on the frequency ν of the radiation, not on its
intensity; for a given metal, there is a threshold frequency ν0 below which
no electrons are emitted. Furthermore, emission takes place as soon as the
light shines on the surface; there is no detectable delay. Einstein showed
that these results can be explained by two assumptions: (1) that light is
composed of corpuscles or photons, the energy of which is given by Planck’s
relationship, and (2) that an atom in the metal can absorb either a
whole photon or nothing. Part of the energy of the absorbed photon frees
an electron, which requires a fixed energy W, known as the work function of
the metal; the rest is converted into the kinetic energy meu2/2 of the emitted
electron (me is the mass of the electron and u is its velocity). Thus, the

energy relation is If ν is less than ν0, where hν0 = W, no

electrons are emitted. Not all the experimental results mentioned above
were known in 1905, but all Einstein’s predictions have been verified since.
Bohr’s theory of the atom
A major contribution to the subject was made by Niels Bohr of Denmark,
who applied the quantum hypothesis to atomic spectra in 1913. The spectra
of light emitted by gaseous atoms had been studied extensively since the
mid-19th century. It was found that radiation from gaseous atoms at low
pressure consists of a set of discrete wavelengths. This is quite unlike the
radiation from a solid, which is distributed over a continuous range of
wavelengths. The set of discrete wavelengths from gaseous atoms is known
as a line spectrum, because the radiation (light) emitted consists of a series
of sharp lines. The wavelengths of the lines are characteristic of the
element and may form extremely complex patterns. The simplest spectra
are those of atomic hydrogen and the alkali atoms (e.g., lithium, sodium,
and potassium). For hydrogen, the wavelengths λ are given by

the empirical formula where m and n are positive

integers with n > m and R∞, known as the Rydberg constant, has the value
1.097373157 × 107 per metre. For a given value of m, the lines for
varying n form a series. The lines for m = 1, the Lyman series, lie in the
ultraviolet part of the spectrum; those for m = 2, the Balmer series, lie in
the visible spectrum; and those for m = 3, the Paschen series, lie in the
infrared.
Bohr started with a model suggested by the New Zealand-born British
physicist Ernest Rutherford. The model was based on the experiments
of Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden, who in 1909 bombarded gold atoms
with massive, fast-moving alpha particles; when some of these particles
were deflected backward, Rutherford concluded that the atom has a
massive, charged nucleus. In Rutherford’s model, the atom resembles a
miniature solar system with the nucleus acting as the Sun and the electrons
as the circulating planets. Bohr made three assumptions. First, he
postulated that, in contrast to classical mechanics, where an infinite number
of orbits is possible, an electron can be in only one of a discrete set of
orbits, which he termed stationary states. Second, he postulated that the
only orbits allowed are those for which the angular momentum of the
electron is a whole number n times ℏ (ℏ = h/2π). Third, Bohr assumed
that Newton’s laws of motion, so successful in calculating the paths of the
planets around the Sun, also applied to electrons orbiting the nucleus. The
force on the electron (the analogue of the gravitational force between the
Sun and a planet) is the electrostatic attraction between the positively
charged nucleus and the negatively charged electron. With these simple
assumptions, he showed that the energy of the orbit has the form

where E0 is a constant that may be expressed by a

combination of the known constants e, me, and ℏ. While in a stationary state,
the atom does not give off energy as light; however, when an electron
makes a transition from a state with energy En to one with lower energy Em,
a quantum of energy is radiated with frequency ν, given by the equation
Insertinspeed of lightScatteringX-rayswaveMax
von LaueconstitutedphaseinterferenceArthur Holly ComptonX-rays
scatterconservation of energycollisionDe Broglie’s
waveelectromagnetic radiationLouis-Victor de BrogliemomentumClinton
DavissonLester GermerUnited StateshypothesisArnold
SommerfeldphysicsWerner HeisenbergMax BornPascual Jordanwave
mechanicsErwin Schrödinger