Atoms
Objectives:
Discuss the models of Atom presented by Thomson,
Rutherford, Bohr and Chadwick.
Describe the Geiger-Marsden experiment.
Compare the mass and charge of the electron with
mass and charge of the proton.
Explain why an atom is normally neutral and stable.
Cont.
Discuss the structure of an Atom.
Apply the relationship, A = Z + N
Explain what is meant by the term Isotope.
Relate the shell model of the atom to the
period table.
Definition and Atom
The atom is a basic unit of matter that
consists of a dense central nucleus
surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged
electrons.
Thomsom’s Model of Atom
As shown in the diagram below, J. J. Thomson, who
discovered the electron in 1897, proposed the plum
pudding model of the atom in 1904 before the
discovery of the atomic nucleus in order to include
the electron in the atomic model.
In Thomson’s model, the atom is composed of
electrons surrounded by a soup of positive
charge to balance the electrons’ negative charges,
like negatively charged “plums” surrounded by
positively charged “pudding”.
The 1904 Thomson model was disproved by
Hans Geiger’s and Ernest Marsden’s 1909 gold
foil experiment.
.
Rutherford’s Model of Atom
According to the Rutherford atomic model:
[Link] positively charged particles and most of the
mass of an atom was concentrated in an extremely
small volume. He called this region of the atom as
a nucleus.
Rutherford’s Model of Atom
2. Rutherford model proposed that the negatively
charged electrons surround the nucleus of an atom.
He also claimed that the electrons surrounding the
nucleus revolve around it with very high speed in
circular paths. He named these circular paths as
orbits.
3. Electrons being negatively charged and nucleus
being a densely concentrated mass of positively
charged particles are held together by a strong
electrostatic force of attraction
Niels Bohr Model of Atom
Bohr’s atom like Rutherford’s contained a dense,
positive nucleus. He expanded on Rutherford’s
ideas, turning his attention to describing the
electron. According to Bohr, electrons go around
the nucleus like planets orbit around the sun. All
electrons have their energy levels – a certain
distance from the nucleus. Each energy level can
hold a certain number of electrons.
Niels Bohr Model of Atom
Level 1 can hold 2 electrons, Level 2- 8 electrons,
Level 3- 18 electrons, and level 4 – 32 electrons.
The energy of electrons goes up from level 1 to
other levels. When electrons release (lose) energy
they go down a level. When electrons absorb
(gain) energy, they go to a higher level. After a lot
of hard work, Bohr was able to create a new
version of the atomic structure which is still used
even today to identify the basic characteristics of
an atom.
Diagram showing Bohr’s Model of Atom
Diagram showing the electron state of Bohr’s
Model of Atom
James Chadwick Model of Atom
James Chadwick discovered the existence of
neutrons in 1932. Neutrons are uncharged particles
that exist together with protons within the nucleus
of an atom. Neutrons were difficult to detect
because, unlike protons and electrons, they have
no charge, and are therefore unaffected by electric
and magnetic fields.
Diagram showing Chadwick’s Model of Atom
Geiger-Marsden experiment.
What made by Rutherford and his assistants Geiger
and Marsden is perhaps one of the most important
experiments of nuclear physics.
The experiments were performed between 1908
and 1913 by Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden
under the direction of Ernest Rutherford at the
Physical Laboratories of the University of
Manchester.
Geiger-Marsden experiment.
In the experiment, Rutherford sent a beam of
alpha particles (helium nuclei) emitted from a
radioactive source against a thin gold foil (the
thickness of about 0.0004 mm, corresponding to
about 1000 atoms).
Geiger-Marsden experiment.
Surrounding the gold foil it was placed a zinc
sulfide screen that would show a small flash of light
when hit by a scattered alpha particle. The idea was
to determine the structure of the atom and
understand if it were what supposed by Thomson
(atom without a nucleus, also known as pudding
model) or if there was something different.
Geiger-Marsden experiment.
Geiger-Marsden experiment.
In particular, if the atom had an internal nucleus
separated from external electrons, then they
would have been able to observe events, or
particles, with large angle of deviation. Obtained,
actually, these results, the physicist concluded that
the atom was formed by a small and compact
nucleus, but with high charge density, surrounded
by an electron cloud.
Geiger-Marsden experiment.
In the image below it is depicted the interaction of
the alpha particles beam with the nuclei of the thin
gold foil; one can see how the majority of the
particles passes undisturbed, or with small angles
of deflection, through the “empty” atom, some
particles, however, passing close to the nucleus are
diverted with a high angle or even bounced
backwards.
Geiger-Marsden experiment.
Geiger-Marsden experiment.
Rutherford used the results of this experiment to
develop a new model for the atom. This model
proposed a central nucleus with a positive charge.
It was this positively charged nucleus that was
responsible for the strong backward deflection of
the positively charged alpha particles.
Geiger-Marsden experiment.
The model also proposed that negatively charged
electrons surrounded this nucleus. However, as
most of the alpha particles passed through the gold
foil with no deflection at all, Rutherford realised
that most of the atom was empty space. So his
model placed the electrons at some distance from
the nucleus.
Mass and charge of Electron and Proton
The mass of an electron is only about 1/2000 the
mass of a proton or neutron, so electrons
contribute virtually nothing to the total mass of an
atom. Electrons have an electric charge of −1,
which is equal but opposite to the charge of a
proton, which is +1..
Atom
Atoms are electrically neutral because they have
equal numbers of protons (positively charged) and
electrons (negatively charged). If an atom gains or
loses one or more electrons, it becomes an ion
The structure of an Atom
Atoms consist of three basic particles: protons,
electrons, and neutrons. The nucleus (center) of
the atom contains the protons (positively charged)
and the neutrons (no charge). The outermost
regions of the atom are called electron shells and
contain the electrons (negatively charged).
Diagram showing the structure of an Atom
Nuclear Symbols
The number of protons in an atom is the atomic
number or proton number, Z. The neutron
number is symbolized by N. The total number of
protons and neutrons is called the mass number,
or nucleon number, [Link]: A = Z + N
Nuclear Symbols
Isotopes
All atoms of the same element may have the
same number of protons. Some atoms of the
same element may have a different number of
neutrons. These are called Isotopes of the
element.
Isotopes of Carbon
Shell model of the atom
An electron arrangement is the way in which
electrons are arranged in an atom.
Electrons occupy different energy levels, or shells.
Each shell can hold a maximum number of
electrons. Moving through the elements in the
periodic table, each atom has one more electron
than the last because the number of electrons is the
same as the atomic number.
Shell model of the atom
Electrons occupy the shells in order, starting with
the shell that is nearest the nucleus. They begin to
occupy the next shell only when this shell becomes
full.
For elements with atomic number 1 to 20:
Electron shell Maximum number of electrons
First 2
Second 8
Third 8
The electron arrangement of an atom can be
worked out from its atomic number. For example,
the atomic number of sodium is 11. Sodium atoms
have 11 protons and so 11 electrons.
•2 electrons occupy the first shell
•8 electrons occupy the second shell
•1 electron occupies the third shell
This electron arrangement can be written as
2.8.1 (each dot separates one shell from the
next). It can also be shown as a diagram. In these
diagrams:
•each shell is modelled as a circle
•each electron is modelled as a dot or a cross
The diagram showing the electron arrangement
of sodium