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About 440 B.C. Empedocles stated that all matter was composed of four "elements" earth, air, water, and fire. Democritus (460-370 BC) Theorized that all matter is composed of small indivisible particles called atomos (“not to cut”, meaning indivisible). Ideas rejected by Greek thinkers of that time The idea that atoms are the fundamental building blocks of matter reemerged in the 1800’s The Dalton's atomic theory may be summed up as follows: 1. Each element is composed of minute, indivisible particles called atoms. 2. All atoms of a given element are chemically identical to each other; Atoms of one element are different from the atoms of all other elements Page 1 Atomic Theory 3. During ordinary chemical reactions, atoms of one element cannot be changed into atoms of a different element. 4. Atoms are not created or destroyed. 5. Compounds are formed when atoms of more than one element combine. A given compound contains atoms combined in definite whole number ratios. Fe2O3 (rust) H2O (water) H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) These ratios are the same for all molecules of a particular pure substance. The major points of his theory are still valid today. However, some of the statement must be modified because investigations since Dalton's time have shown that: (1) Atoms are composed of subatomic particles; (2) All the atoms of a specific element do not have the same mass; and (3) Atoms, under special circumstances, can be decomposed. Dalton's wooden atomic models, early 19th century. These wooden balls were the first models made to represent atoms and were used by John Dalton to demonstrate atomic theory. He stated that matter is made up of small indivisible particles, or solid atoms. Dalton first published, in 1808, in a small book entitled A new system of Chemical Philosophy, Part 1, by John Dalton. Page 2 Atomic Theory Thomson’s Observations In Thomson’s model, electrons are embedded in a positive sphere of matter just like raisins in plum pudding or blue berries in a blueberry muffin. Electrons can be produced from all kinds of metals Conclusion: All atoms must contain electrons. Must have a positive charge also Plum Pudding Model Page 3 Atomic Theory The discovery that positively charged particles were present in atoms came soon after the discovery of radioactivity by Henri Becquercl in 1896. Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937) established that the positively charged alpha particles emitted by certain radioactive elements were ions of the element helium. Rutherford used these alpha particles to establish the nuclear nature of atoms. In Page 4 Atomic Theory these experiments performed in 1911, he directed a stream of positively charged helium ions (alpha particles) at a very thin sheet of gold foil (about 1000 atoms thick). He observed that most of the alpha particles passed through the foil with little or no deflection; but a few of the particles were deflected at large angles and occasionally one even bounced back from the foil. It was known that like charges repel each other and that an electron with a mass of 1/1837 amu could not have an appreciable effect upon the path of a far more massive (4 amu) alpha particle. Diagram representing Rutherford's experiment on alpha particle scattering. Positive alpha particles, emanating from a radioactive source, were directed at a thin metal foil. Diagram illustrates the repulsion of the positive alpha particles by the positive nucleus of the metal atom. Rutherford therefore reasoned that each gold atom must contain a positively charged mass occupying a relatively tiny volume and that when an alpha particle approached close enough to this positive mass, it was deflected. Page 5 Atomic Theory Rutherford spoke of this positively charged mass as the nucleus of the atom. Since alpha particles are relatively high in mass, the extent of the deflections, remember some actually bounced back, indicated to Rutherford that the nucleus is relatively very heavy and dense. Since most of the alpha particles passed through the thousand or so gold atoms without any apparent deflection, he further concluded that the bulk of an atom consists of empty space. When we speak of the mass of an atom, we are, for practical purposes, referring primarily to the mass of the nucleus. This is because the nucleus contains all of the protons and neutrons, and these represent more than 99.9 percent of the total mass of any atom, the largest number of electrons known to exist in an atom is 106. The mass of even 106 electrons represents only about 1/17 of the mass of a single proton or neutron. The mass of an atom, therefore, is primarily determined by the mass of its protons and neutrons. Protons : positively charged subatomic particles found in the nucleus Neutrons: neutral (uncharged) subatomic particles found in the nucleus Electrons: very small, negatively charged subatomic particle Page 6 Atomic Theory