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Atoms
Atoms
-Atoms are defined as the basic building blocks of matter
-Neutrons, Protons & Electrons are the basic particles
making up the atom They join together with other atoms &
create matter
-It is the smallest constituent unit of matter that possess
the properties of the chemical element
-Every inorganic, organic or even synthetic object is made
up of atoms

DALTON's ATOMIC THEORY

-Given by John Dalton in the year 1808

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-It stated that all matter was made up of small, indivisible

particles known as atoms

Postulates of dalton's atomic theory

-All matter is made up of tiny, indivisible particles called
atoms
-All atoms of a specific element are identical in mass, size,
and other properties However, atoms of different element
exhibit different properties and vary in mass & size
-Atoms can neither be created nor destroyed
Furthermore, atoms cannot be divided into smaller
particles
-Atoms of different elements can combine with each
other in fixed whole number ratios in order to form
compounds
-Atoms can be rearranged, combined, or separated in
chemical reactions

Merits
It demonstrated laws of :
a) mass conservation
b) fixed composition
c) multiple proportions
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Demerits
-It was unable to demonstrate experiments of
electrostatics (dry paper bits sticking to comb) that
showed charge exists

THOMSON MODEL OF ATOM

-Thomson atomic model was proposed by William

Thomson in the year 1900
-This model explained the description of an inner
structure of the atom theoretically
-Atom is like a sphere where positive charge has uniform
distribution throughout
-Electrons are scattered inside in a way that most stable
electrostatic arrangement is achieved, meaning that
minimum possible energy of the system should is achieved
-Also known as watermelon model or plum pudding model
or raisin bread model
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Postulates of thomson's atomic model

-An atom consists of a positively charged sphere with
electrons embedded in it
-An atom as a whole is electrically neutral because the
negative and positive charges are equal in magnitude

Thomson atomic model is compared to watermelon.

Where he considered :
-Watermelon seeds as negatively charged particles
-The red part of the watermelon as positively charged

Limitations of thomson's atomic model

-It failed to explain the stability of an atom because his
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model of atom failed to explain how a positive charge

holds the negatively charged electrons in an atom
-It failed to account for the position of the nucleus in an
atom
-Thomson’s model failed to explain the scattering of alpha
particles by thin metal foils
-No experimental evidence in its support

RUTHERFORD's NUCLEAR MODEL OF

ATOM

-Geiger and Marsden carried out few experiments on the

advice of Rutherford
-On a very thin gold foil, highly energetic ray of
α-particles was incident
-In order to study the deflection caused to the
α-particles, he placed a fluorescent zinc sulphide screen
around the thin gold foil
-Rutherford made certain observations that contradicted
Thomson’s atomic model
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Observations of rutherford's alpha scattering

experiment
-A major fraction of the α-particles bombarded towards
the gold sheet passed through the sheet without any
deflection, and hence most of the space in an atom is
empty
-Some of the α-particles were deflected by the gold
sheet by very small angles, and hence the positive charge
in an atom is not uniformly distributed
-The positive charge in an atom is concentrated in a very
small volume
-Very few of the α-particles were deflected back, that is
only a few α-particles had nearly 180° angle of deflection
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-So the volume occupied by the positively charged

particles in an atom is very small as compared to the total
volume of an atom

Rutherford atomic model

Based on the above observations rutherford proposed
the atomic structure of elements
-The positive charge and most of the mass of an atom is
concentrated in an extremely small volume He called this
region of the atom as a nucleus
-Rutherford’s 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
-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
-Rutherford was the first to discover that atom has a
nucleus and so his model was called as Rutherford’s
nuclear model of atom
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Graph

-As the scattering angle(θ) got higher count of scattered

α-particles observed got lower, and vice versa
-Almost all of the α-particles passed through the gold foil
undeflected, and only small number of α-particles got
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deflected

ELECTRON ORBIT

-Since electrons orbiting around the nucleus and are held

to nucleus by electrostatic force of attraction, centripetal
force (Fc) is provided by the electrostatic force (Fe) to
keep electrons in the orbit
Fc = Fe

Here r=radius of orbit

v= velocity of orbiting electron
e= charge of an electron
m= mass of an electron
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Z=atomic mass of atom

Ɛo=permittivity of free space

On solving we get

Kinetic Energy(K) putting the value of mv2 from equation

(1) we get :
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Potential Energy(U) : using the electrostatic potential

between 2 charged body, we get :

Negative sign here shows that there is a force of

attraction and energy has to be given to the system to
overcome this force of attraction
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Total Energy (T) :

T=U+K

Important
Kinetic energy(K) = -(1/2)Potential energy (U)
Kinetic energy(K) = -Total energy (T)
Potential energy(U) = 2×Total energy (T)

Drawbacks of Rutherford’s Model :

-Accelerated charged particle produces electromagnetic
waves (Maxwell Theory), so orbital radius of electron
should go on decreasing and finally electron should fall
into the nucleus But atoms are stable in nature and this
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stability of atoms could not be clarified by Rutherford’s

model
-The model didn’t talk about electronic structure of
atoms, electrons orientation, their orbital motion and
relative energy of electron in different orbits
-Dual character of electromagnetic radiation couldn’t be
elaborated by the model

ATOMIC SPECTRA

-When an electron gets excited from one energy level to

anotherenergy is emitted or absorbed in the form of
electromagnetic radiations and these radiations produce a
spectral lines of frequencies(or wavelength) associated
with an atom called atomic spectra
-Spectroscopy is the learning, examination emission and
absorption spectra associated with an atom to determine
its properties
-Spectral lines are the bright and dark line series that
constitute the spectrum associated with an atom
-An atom has a discrete spectra(where exist a fixed
specific lines of energy transition of electron with discrete
energy gaps) also known as quantized spectra
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-Another type is continuous spectra (where there is no

specific lines of energy transition of electrons) which is
the reverse of discrete spectra

Types of atomic spectra

1) emission spectra
2)absorption spectra
3) continuous spectra

Emission spectra
-Radiation spectrum produced due to absorption of
energy by a matter
-When an electron of an atom, molecules or ions get to a
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higher energy state than their ground (stable) state due to

radiation absorption, they are said to be excited
-Emission spectrum is produced when energy is supplied
to a sample (through heating or irradiation) and the
wavelength or frequency of radiation emitted by the
sample is observed as a function of energy

Absorption spectra
-It is just the opposite of emission spectra
-Continuous radiation (energy) is directed through a
sample which absorbs certain radiation of particular
wavelengths and the remaining spectrum is recorded
-Absorbed wavelengths correspond to the dark spaces in
the spectrum
-Whatever absent(showed by dark lines) in the emission
spectrum of an atom is actually present (showed by bright
lines) in the absorption spectrum of that atom

Continuous spectra
-Formed when a ray of white light is passed through a
prism(or water droplets) causing a continuous spectrum
of visible light of different wavelength
-There are no discrete lines (separation) between any 2
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adjacent wavelengths
-Speed of light changes with respect to the medium
through which it passes, so as the medium changes, light
with the longest wavelength (red)deviates the least and
the light with the shortest wavelength (violet) deviates
the most

SPECTRAL SERIES

-On passing electric discharge through hydrogen gas,

hydrogen molecules would dissociate giving rise to excited
(highly energetic) hydrogen atoms that emit radiation of
certain specified frequency while returning to its ground
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state
-Hydrogen spectra is constituted of 5 series of spectrum
named after their discoverer (Lyman, Balmer, Paschen
series)

Types of spectral series

1) Balmer series
-First scientist to discover a spectral series of hydrogen
atom
-It consist of visible radiation spectrum
-Experimentally, he found that these spectral lines could
be expressed mathematically in the form of wavelength
as :
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Here
R= Rhydberg constant = 109677cm-1(found
experimentally)
n= 3, 4, 5…… (higher discrete energy state from which
electron jumps to 2nd energy state thus emitting
radiation)
λ = wavelength of emitted radiation in (cm)

For maximum wavelength(λmax) in the Balmer series, n=3

(has to be minimum) :
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For minimum wavelength (λmin) in the Balmer series,

n=∞(has to be minimum) :

2) Lyman series
-Spectral series when radiation emitted is due to jumping
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of electron from higher energy states to ground state

-Mathematically expressed as :

Here n= 2, 3, 4… etc

For maximum wavelength in the Lyman series, n=2 (has

to be minimum) :
λmax = 4/3R

For minimum wavelength in the Lyman series, n=∞(has to

be minimum) :
λmin = 1/R

3) Paschen Series
-Mathematically expressed as :
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-Here n= 4, 5, 6… etc

-Atomic spectra has a huge scope in the study of

electronic structures of various atoms, molecules and
ions
-Elements have their own distinctive spectral series. So
spectral series is used in the identification (even
discovery) of unknown atoms
-Many elements were discovered by the spectroscopic
methods, such as Rubidium(Ru), Caesium(Cs), Helium(He),
Gallium(Ga), Thallium(Tl), Scandium(Sc)
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BOHR's MODEL OF HYDROGEN ATOM

-Drawbacks of Rutherford’s atomic model lead to the

Bohr’s Model where he came up with 3 postulates :

Postulates
1)Atoms have some specific stable energy states called
stationary states where electrons could orbit around the
nucleus without emitting radiation

2) Orbiting of electrons occur only in the orbits called

stable orbits where electrons angular momentum (L) is
equal to the integral multiples of h/(2π), leading to the
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quantization of moving electron

L = nh/2π

3) Electron while jumping from higher (initial) energy state

to lower (final) energy state, emit a photon of energy equal
to the energy difference between the 2 energy states, and
its frequency is given by :

hv = Ei - Ef

BOHR's RADIUS

-The radius on which electron move around the nucleus in

the orbit described by the Bohr’s model is known as
Bohr’s radius

Using the second postulate and Rutherford’s model

mvr = nh/(2π)
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Using the value of υ² from both the equations, we get

On solving (and putting Z=1 for hydrogen atom) we get :

r = n2h2Ɛo/(πme2)
For radius of innermost orbit, put n=1
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Velocity of Electron in the Orbit :

v = e2/2nhƐo

ENERGY OF ORBITS

-The orbital energy of orbiting electron in the discrete

energy levels in the Bohr’s model is called as the energy
of orbits

We already know, from Rutherford’s Model that total

energy(T) is given by

T = -Ze2/(8πƐor)

Putting the value of Bohr’s radius, we get

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Putting the values of electron mass (m), charge (e),

permittivity of free space (Ɛo), Planck’s constant (h) we
get :
T = (-13.6/n2)eV
For the energy of innermost stationary orbit, put n=1

DRAWBACKS OF BOHR's MODEL

-It was primarily for hydrogen atom

-It couldn’t elaborate spectra of multi-electron atoms
-Wave nature of electron was not justified by the model
(inconsistent with the de Broglie’s hypothesis of dual
nature of matter)
-It didn’t illustrated molecules making process of chemical
reactions
-It violated Heisenberg’s Principal (Δx× Δp ≥nh/(2π)
which said that it was impossible to evaluate theprecise
position and momentum of electron (and other
microscopic particles) simultaneously Only their
probability could be estimated
-Zeeman effect(spectral lines variation due to external
magnetic field and Stark Effect(spectral lines variation
due to external electric field) couldn’t be described by the
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model

DE-BROGLIE's HYPOTHESIS

-De Broglie’s Hypothesis showed the wave particle

duality of matter
-It showed that like photons, electrons must also have
mass or momentum and wavelength(λ), given by the
equation (here c = speed of light in air, v = frequency)

p = mv = h/λ = h/(c/λ)

-It holds only for the subatomic (microscopic) particles

like electron, proton etc where mass is very small, so
wavelength are large enough to be experimentally
observable
-It does not hold for the macroscopic particles since
mass there is very large, making wavelength too small to
be experimentally observable

De-Broglie’s Explanation of Bohr’s Second Postulate of

Quantisation :
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-Electron orbiting in circular orbit can be considered as a

particle wave
-Only those waves propagate and survive which form
nodes at terminal point with integer multiple of
wavelength(resonant standing waves), thus covering the
whole circumferential distance of circular orbit

2πrn = nλ

From de Broglie’s hypothesis : λ = h/(mv)

So, ultimately we get: mvnrn = nh/(2π)
This proved that wave-particle duality is the cause of
quantized energy states