Atomic theory

In the fifth century B.C the Greek philosopher Democritus proposed that matter consisted of
very small indivisible particles which he named atomos ( meaning indivisible) . Although
Democritus idea was not accepted by many of his contemporaries notably Plato and Aristotle ) it
never the less endured. In 1808 an English School teacher, John Dalton using scientific insight
developed an explanation of many of the then known laws of chemistry which later became
known as the atomic theory
1 matter consists of indivisible particles called atoms.

2 Atoms of the same element are similar in shape and mass, but differ from the
atoms of other elements.

3 Atoms cannot be created or destroyed.

4 Atoms of different elements may combine with each other in a fixed,

simple, whole number ratios to form compound .

5 Atoms of same element can combine in more than one ratio with atom (s) of
another element to form two or more compounds.

6 The atom is the smallest unit of matter that can take part in a chemical
reaction
the fourth postulate suggest that to form a certain compound , we need not only
atoms of the right kind of element but specific numbers of these atoms . This is the idea
of the law of definite proportion:

Law of definite proportion: states that different samples of the same compound
always contain its constituent elements in the same proportion by mass.

For example everywhere in the universe CO will contain one atom of C and one atom
of O.

Fifth: Law of multiple proportion : states that if two elements can combine to form
more than one compound then the mass of the element that combines with a fixed
mass of the other element are in small whole number ratios

For example carbon and oxygen forms two compounds carbon monoxide( CO) and
carbon dioxide (CO2). The ratio of oxygen in CO2 and CO = 2:1

From the third hypothesis

Law of conservation of mass: states that matter can neither be created nor destroyed

For example Lavoisier demonstrated that when mercury is heated in air to form
mercury (II) oxide, the increase in mass of the oxide over pure mercury was exactly
equal to the decrease in mass of the gas
Note that all neutral atoms contain equal amount of proton and electron
Atoms of the same element have equal number of protons and this is referred to as the
atomic number but may have different number of neutron. Such phenomenon is
termed isotopy eg 31H, 21H , 11H
The number of proton and neutron in an element is known as the mass number of the
element and is generally accepted as the atomic weight of the element

Calculating Average Atomic mass

The average atomic mass of an element is the sum of the masses of its isotopes, each
multiplied by its natural abundance (the decimal associated with percent of atoms of
that element that are of a given isotope).
Average atomic mass = f1M1 + f2M2 +… + fnMn The Where f is the natural abundance
and M the mass number (weight of isotope)
Practice Question
1. What is the atomic weight of a hypothetical element consisting of two isotopes, one
with mass = 64.23 amu (26.0%), and one with mass = 65.32 amu?
(a) 65.3 amu (b) 64.4 amu (c) 64.9 amu (d) 65.0 amu
STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM
The discovery of x rays by Wilhelm Rontegen (1895) and
radioactivity by Antoine Henri Becquerel (1896) led scientist to
believe that the atom is composed of discrete particles
How did scientists determine the structures that are inside an
atom?
•Doctors often use X-rays to see
bones and other structures that
cannot be seen through your
skin. Scientists use many
methods to “see” inside an
atom.
•The three subatomic particles
that are most important to a
chemist are electrons, protons
and neutrons
 Discovery of the electron
In 1897, the English physicist J. J. Thomson (1856–1940)
discovered the electron using the cathode ray experiment.
• Thomson performed experiments that involved passing electric current
through gases at low pressure using a partially evacuated gas tube called the
cathode ray tube
• He sealed the gases in glass tubes fitted at both ends with metal disks called
electrodes.
• The electrodes were connected to a source of electricity.

Diagram of a cathode ray tube

When the two metal plates are connected to a high- voltage source, the cathode
emits an invisible ray which moves to the anode where it passes through a hole
and continues travelling to the other end of the tube. On striking the surface of
the tube which is coated with fluorescent material such as zinc sulphide, the
invisible ray is detected as a strong fluorescence or bright green light.
Thomson found that a cathode ray is deflected by both
electrically and magnetic fields

• A positively charged plate attracts the cathode ray, while a negatively charged plate
repels it.
• His conclusion was supported by the electromagnetic theory which state that a
moving charged body behaves like a magnet which interact with the electric and
magnetic field through which it passes
Thompson knew that opposite charges attract and
like charges repel, so he hypothesized that a cathode
ray is a stream of tiny negatively charged particles
moving at high speed.
• Thompson called these particles corpuscles.
• Later they were named electrons.
To test his hypothesis, Thompson set up an experiment using the
discharge tube shown below to measure the ratio of an electron’s
charge to its mass.

• He found this ratio to be constant.

• Also, the charge-to-mass ratio of electrons did not depend on the
kind of gas in the cathode-ray tube or the type of metal used for
the electrodes
Thompson concluded that electrons are a component of the atoms of
all elements.
 Charge to mass ratio

• J.J.Thomson measured the charge to

mass ratio of the cathode ray particle by
deflecting them using electric and
magnetic fields
• The value measured was –1.76×108
Coulombs per gram
 PROPERTIES OF CATHODE RAYS:

• They are identical irrespective of cathodes (different

metals) or gas used in the experiment, all produced
same results.
• The rays are deflected by magnetic and electric fields.
• The rays produced some chemical reactions similar to
those produced by light.
• They travel in a straight line when it is not interfered
with.
• The charge to mass ratio –1.76×108 Coulombs per
gram
 Millikan’s Oil Droplet Experiment
The U.S. physicist Robert A. Millikan (1868–1953) carried out experiments to find the
quantity of an electron’s charge

• From his data, he found that the charge on each oil droplet was a multiple of
1.60  10–19 coulomb, meaning this must be the charge of an electron
• Using this charge and Thomson’s charge-to-mass ratio of an electron, Millikan
calculated an electron’s mass.
• Millikan’s values for electron charge and mass are similar to those accepted
today.
• An electron has one unit of negative charge, and its mass is 1/1840 the mass of
a hydrogen atom
Protons

In 1886, Eugen Goldstein (1850–1930) observed a cathode-ray tube and

found rays traveling in the direction opposite to that of the cathode rays.

 Such positively charged subatomic particles travelling in opposite direction

to that of cathode rays were called protons.
 ATOMIC MODELS

THOMSON’S PLUM PUDDING MODEL OF THE ATOM

• since atoms are electrically neutral. There must exist a positive

charge, to neutralize the negative charge of the electron.
• Thomson proposed that electrons are held inside a positively
charged sphere like raisins in a plum pudding- plum pudding
model
 Rutherford's Gold foil Experiment
• Series of experiment known as the gold foil experiment conducted
by HansGieger and Ernest Marsden under the supervision of
Ernest (later Lord) Rutherford disproved the plum pudding model
of JJ Thompson..
• He passed α particles (which are helium atoms that have lost their
two electrons and have a double positive charge because of the
two remaining proton) through an ultra thin gold foil.
According to the JJ Thompson’s model, the alpha particles should
pass easily through the gold, with only a slight deflection due to the
positive charge spread out uniformly in the gold atoms.
Rutherford’s findings are summarized below:
• Most of the α particles pass through with little or no deflection
•Some particles were deflected
•Some bounced back
 Based on his experimental results, Rutherford suggested
a new model of the atom:
• He proposed that the atom is mostly empty space hence does
not interact with most of the particles which then passes through
the foil with little or no deflection
• He concluded all the positive charge and almost all of the mass
are concentrated in a small but dense central core called the
nucleus. Hence occasionally the alpha particles interact with this
dense positively charged center that has enough positive charge
to account for the great deflection of some of the alpha particles.
 Whenever an alpha particle neared the nucleus , it experienced a
large repulsive force and therefore a large deflection. An alpha
particle travelling directly towards the nucleus would be
completelyrepelled and its direction reversed
• the positive charge in the nucleus is due to particles which he
called protons
Nuclear Model - Rutherford
 Rutherford's model - Incomplete

• Rutherford's model seemed as incomplete – Compare H

and He . H has one proton and He has 2. But mass of H
seems to be ¼ th of mass of He.
• In 1932, the Rutherford's student and English physicist
James Chadwick (1891–1974) confirmed the existence of
yet another subatomic particle: the neutron. This
explained that the uncounted mass in Rutherfords model
was due to the presence of neutrons within the nucleus.
• Mass of neutron is similar to that of a proton but it
doesn't have a charge
• The He atom is 4 times massive than H atom, since it
contains 2 protons and 2 neutrons.
Rutherford’s model though very useful could not adequately explain
the arrangement of electrons round the nucleus nor did it answer the
question of what prevented the electrons from falling into the
nucleus. This is because unlike charges attract and according to
classical physics a moving charged body continually loses energy
while it spirals inwards and finally collapses into the middle.
Rutherford model of an atom fail to explain why electron in a given
atoms do not collapse into the nucleus when in motion and could not
explain the position and arrangement of electrons around the nucleus.
 Summary of the Three Subatomic Particles

Properties of Subatomic Particles

Relative Relative mass Actual mass
Particle Symbol
charge (mass of proton = 1) (g)
Electron e– 1– 1/1840 9.11  10–28
Proton p+ 1+ 1 1.67  10–24
Neutron n0 0 1 1.67  10–24