Jackson Hopper

Dr. Smith

Chemistry

November 21, 2019

Atomic Theory

Over the course of history, there have been many different interpretations and theories

as to how the world works, more specifically: matter. Some were far more accurate than others,

but all of which contributed, in some way, to the development of the theories accepted today.

Some famous theories were proposed by scientists including Aristotle, Democritus, Thomson,

Millikan, Rutherford, Chadwick, and Bohr.

One of the most famous Greek philosophers, Aristotle, did not believe in atomic theory,

or the theory that matter is composed of small building blocks called atoms. Instead, Aristotle

believed that everything was composed of four different elements. The four elements were air,

fire, earth, and water. But all of that changed when the fire nation attacked. Aristotle believed

that water was represented by wetness, fire was represented by heat, air was represented by

anything that was not significantly heavy, and earth was anything cold or heavy. He believed

that all matter was comprised of these four elements, or different combinations of them. This

elemental theory was proposed around 340 B.C.E., and for over 2000 years, was the most

accepted theory. He had no proof for this concept, having done no experiments to test it, but

wrote on the topic anyway along with the topics of physics and biology as well.

 While Aristotle’s theories in regards atomic theory were completely wrong, another

Greek philosopher was far more accurate in his ideas. Democritus played a large role in the

development modern Atomic theory. Democritus believed that matter was made up of small

particles called atoms, rather than Aristotle’s elemental theory. Democritus believed that atoms

were essentially indestructible, and could not be destroyed or changed. He believed that atoms

carried drastically in shape and size, having no standard shape. He proposed this theory in the

year 442 B.C.E, although it was not accepted until far lated due to the work of Aristotle. Today,

Democritus is regarded as the father of modern science because of his use of experiments to

back up his theories. The experiment used to prove his atomic theory consisted of breaking a

seashell into smaller and smaller pieces until it was in the form of a powder. Democritus then

concluded that the shell could no longer be broken into any smaller pieces, proving that matter

was made of small indestructible building blocks.

The next scientist is John Dalton. John Dalton was a famous scientist who lived from

1766-1844. Dalton’s theory was proposed in 1803, and consisted of the idea that everything

was composed of atoms. Dalton’s theory differed form Democritus’ because Dalton believed

that atoms were small and spherical, thus earning the name the “Billiard Ball Model.” Dalton

theorized that all atoms of the same element looked the same, while atom of different elements

looked different. Dalton also believed that two elements can together create a compound, and

the rearrangement of an atom creates chemical reactions. The experiments behind Dalton’s

theory is unknown. Dalton’s model of the atom was small and spherical, greatly resembling a

billiard ball.

Another scientist which heavily influenced the development of modern atomic theory

was J.J. Thomson. Thomson lived from 1856-1940, and created the atomic model known as
the Plum Pudding model. In addition to the ideas of Dalton and Democritus, Thomson added

the concept of charge into his model. He based his model around this idea of positive and

negative charges, theorizing that the negative charges float in the theoretical pudding that is

the positive charges. The model does not accurately show the shape of the atom, as Thomson

believed that the nucleus of an atom was comprised positive and negative charges rather then

orbiting the atom. The theory was proposed in 1904, although it was discovered via an

experiment done in 1897. Thomson’s experiment consisted of using a cathode ray tube to

observe the path of a cathode ray generated by the tube. He then deduced that the cathode

ray was actually made up of charred particles, thus discovering the existence of electrons.

Another influential scientist in the field of atomic theory was Robert Andrews Millikan.

Millikan was an American scientist known for his discovery of the mass of an electron. Millikan

revived a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on an equation to quantify the mass of an electron

through an experiment done in 1917. In the experiment, they used a perfume bottle to spray oil

into a chamber where oil droplets would fall through a pinhole. These droplets would then go

into an electric field where they could then be seen through a microscope. Millikan then

measured the terminal velocity of the droplets and used a formula to calculate the mass of

each individual droplet. Next, Millikan used x-rays to ionize the air in the chamber where the
electrons from the molecules in the air were removed. He applied the charge to the falling

droplets by illuminating the lower chamber. The droplets that didn’t catch electrons fell to the

bottom chamber, while those that did moved toward the positive plate at the top. This

essentially led to the creation of an equation that would allow us to find the electric charge of

an electron: 1.6 x 10-19 C.

Next on the list is the father of nuclear physics, Ernest Rutherford. Ernest Rutherford

was a chemist from New Zealand alive form 1871-1937. Rutherford discovered that atoms

have a charged nucleus that is also surrounded by tiny electrons that occupy a large amount of

empty space, and is credited with discovering the proton. Rutherford’s model of the atom

consisted of a positive nucleus surrounded by small electrons which occupy large amounts of

empty space. The experiment used to uncover this was the gold foil experiment, which

consisted of measuring the scattering of alpha particles when they interact with metal foil.

Through this Rutherford concluded that every atom has a nucleus that holds mass.

 Another chemist who played a major role in the development of atomic theory was

James Chadwick, who was the student of Ernest Rutherford during his time at Physical

Laboratory in Manchester, England. He lived from 1891-1974. Chadwick discovered that the

nucleus of an atom was made up of positively charged protons and neutrally charge neutrons.

He also determined that the negative charged electrons orbited the nucleus. The experiment

used to determine this information was conducted in 1932, and it consisted of shooting alpha

particles to Beryllium. The sample emitted gamma rays, which he confirmed by using paraffin

wax. Chadwick concluded from this that the particles being released were neutral because of

the fact that they had a greater mass than protons.

The final scientists that contributed to the development of the atomic theory was Niels

Bohr. Bohr was alive from 1885-1962, and is credited with the creation of the energy level

model. The model depicted a heavy nucleus orbited by electrons in a circular orbit. Bohr used the

term “energy levels” or “shells” to describe the orbits of energy. He theorized that the shell

furthest from the nucleus contained the most energy and electrons could jump from shell to shell

without occupying the space in between—quantized. The electrons lost energy after the jumps,

causing different emission spectrum for different elements. His major experiment was based on

the plum pudding experiment, in which he stated that atoms are evenly distributed through a

positive web. Bohr’s model helped many scientists who followed him have a base for their

theories, and allowed them to build or create new discoveries.

Overall the above scientists contributed greatly to the development of the modern understanding

of atomic theory. Although not all of the theories were correct, every theory impacted the theory

after in some way, shape, or form. All of the later scientists used earlier theories to build off of

each other, and all of them contributed to the development of modern atomic theory.