 1.

Thomson’s plum pudding model in which the

electrons were supposed to be embedded in a positive
cloud.

 Rutherford’s nuclear model which presents the atom as

having a small nucleus where the positive charge and mass
of the atom is concentrated.
 Bohr model came in 1913 when Niels Bohr, a Danish
physicist, proposed a planetary model of the atom.
 Electrons occupy orbits that are at fixed energies and radii.
 Each orbit is assigned an integer quantum number, n.
 The bigger the orbit, the farther the electron is from the
nucleus and the higher is its energy with a higher quantum
number.
 The theory was supported by Erwin Schrodinger in 1926
 This model showed that if an electron within an atom is
treated as a wave rather than as a particle, the various
allowable energies (Bohr’s stationary states)could be
described by the mathematics of three dimensional wave
behavior. This new view came to be called quantum
mechanics
An electron in an atom is described in terms of four
different quantum numbers,
Three of the quantum numbers:
n, l , and m describe the atomic orbit.
 Atomic orbitals are associated with characteristic energies, sizes, shapes, and
orientations in space. These properties depend on the values assigned as the
quantum numbers:

 1. n, the principal quantum number, describes the energy of the electron. The
energy of the electron is determined by its average distance from the nucleus or
the principal energy level where it is. It is an integer and its values begin with 1
(i.e., n = 1,2,3, etc.).
 2. l , the azimuthal or angular momentum quantum number, describes the
“shape” of the orbital. It designates the sublevel which the electron is said to
occupy. It is also an integer, but its values are limited to a range of 0 to n- 1.
These values are: l = 0, for the electron in an orbital in the s sublevel; l =1 for
the electron in an orbital in the p sublevel; l = 2 for the electron in the d
sublevel; and l = 3 when the electron occupies an orbital in the f sublevel.
 ml , the magnetic quantum number describes the orientation of the
orbital in space. The number is also an integer, and its values are
restricted to a range of +1 down through 0 to -1.

When l = 0, ml can have only one value: 0, This corresponds to a

single s orbital which has a spherical shape centered around the
nucleus.

When l = 1, ml has three values: +1,0, -1 which correspond to three p

orbitals. Each orbital has “two lobes” in “dumbbell” shape that lie
along three axes (x, y, z)
 When l = 3, ml has seven values +3,+2,+1,0,-1,-2,-3. These seven f
orbitals have extremely complex shapes that are difficult to
visualize.
 ms ,the spin quantum number, refer to the “spin” of an electron in a
given orbital. It can have only two values: +1/2 and -1/2. The spin
of an electron can be one of two opposite directions, clockwise or
counterclockwise. Since the spin quantum number has only two
possible values, if follows that an orbital can accommodate a
maximum of two electrons only.