Atomic Models Through History

Atomic Models Through History

• The atomic model has evolved over time, with scientists building upon each other's discoveries.
• Democritus proposed that matter is made up of indivisible particles, which he called atoms.
• John Dalton envisioned the atom as a solid sphere, similar to a billiard ball, with no internal structure.
• J.J. Thomson discovered the electron through the cathode ray experiment and proposed the "plum pudding" model. In this model, negatively charged electrons are embedded within a positively charged sphere.
• Ernest Rutherford conducted the gold foil experiment, leading to the discovery that atoms are mostly empty space with a dense, positively charged nucleus at the center. This model replaced the plum pudding model.
• Niels Bohr suggested that electrons orbit the nucleus in specific energy levels.
• Erwin Schrodinger further developed the atomic model by describing electrons as wave-like and existing in regions of probability known as "electron clouds". This model is referred to as the orbital cloud model.