Development of Atomic Theory Early Atomic Theory The atomic theory, which holds that matter is composed of tiny,

indivisible particles in constant motion, was proposed in the 5th cent. B.C. by the Greek philosophers Leucippus and Democritus and was adopted by the Roman Lucretius. However, Aristotle did not accept the theory, and it was ignored for many centuries. Interest in the atomic theory was revived during the 18th cent. following work on the nature and behavior of gases (see gas laws). From Dalton to the Periodic Table Modern atomic theory begins with the work of John Dalton, published in 1808. He held that all the atoms of an element are of exactly the same size and weight (see atomic weight) and are in these two respects unlike the atoms of any other element. He stated that atoms of the elements unite chemically in simple numerical ratios to form compounds. The best evidence for his theory was the experimentally verified law of simple multiple proportions, which gives a relation between the weights of two elements that combine to form different compounds. Evidence for Dalton's theory also came from Michael Faraday's law of electrolysis. A major development was the periodic table, devised simultaneously by Dmitri Mendeleev and J. L. Meyer, which arranged atoms of different elements in order of increasing atomic weight so that elements with similar chemical properties fell into groups. By the end of the 19th cent. it was generally accepted that matter is composed of atoms that combine to form molecules. Discovery of the Atom's Structure In 1911, Ernest Rutherford developed the first coherent explanation of the structure of an atom. Using alpha particles emitted by radioactive atoms, he showed that the atom consists of a central, positively charged core, the nucleus, and negatively charged particles called electrons that orbit the nucleus. There was one serious obstacle to acceptance of the nuclear atom, however. According to classical theory, as the electrons orbit about the nucleus, they are continuously being accelerated (see acceleration), and all accelerated charges radiate electromagnetic energy. Thus, they should lose their energy and spiral into the nucleus. This difficulty was solved by Niels Bohr (1913), who applied the quantum theory developed by Max Planck and Albert Einstein to the problem of atomic structure. Bohr proposed that electrons could circle a nucleus without radiating energy only in orbits for which their orbital angular momentum was an integral multiple of Planck's constant h divided by 2. The discrete spectral lines (see spectrum) emitted by each element were produced by electrons dropping from allowed orbits of higher energy to those of lower energy, the frequency of the photon of light emitted being proportional to the energy difference between the orbits. Around the same time, experiments on x-ray spectra (see X ray) by H. G. J. Moseley showed that each nucleus was characterized by an atomic number, equal to the number of unit positive charges associated with it. By rearranging the periodic table according to atomic number rather than atomic weight, a more systematic arrangement was obtained. The development of quantum mechanics during the 1920s resulted in a satisfactory explanation for all phenomena related to the role of electrons in atoms and all aspects of their associated spectra. With the discovery of the neutron in 1932 the modern picture of the atom was complete.

Dalton's Atomic Theory Democritus first suggested the existence of the atom but it took almost two millennia before the atom was placed on a solid foothold as a fundamental chemical object by John Dalton (1766-1844). Although two centuries old, Dalton's atomic theory remains valid in modern chemical thought. Dalton's Atomic Theory 1) All matter is made of atoms. Atoms are indivisible and indestructible. 2) All atoms of a given element are identical in mass and properties 3) Compounds are formed by a combination of two or more different kinds of atoms. 4) A chemical reaction is arearrangement of atoms. Modern atomic theory is, of course, a little more involved than Dalton's theory but the essence of Dalton's theory remains valid. Today we know that atoms can be destroyed via nuclear reactions but not by chemical reactions. Also, there are different kinds of atoms (differing by their masses) within an element that are known as "isotopes", but isotopes of an element have the same chemical properties. Many heretofore unexplained chemical phenomena were quickly explained by Dalton with his theory. Dalton's theory quickly became the theoretical foundation in chemistry.

Thomson's atomic model Thomson's atomic model was proposed in 1904 and was called the plum pudding model. It was introduced right after Thomson's 1897 discovery of the electron, then called corpuscles. He said that no matter where matter came from, it contained particles that were the same and are smaller than the atoms that matter is formed from. The model was a round thick liquidy substance whose total charge canceled out the charge of the electrons.He came to this conclusion by using a cathode ray scope. This theory was proved wrong by the gold foil experiment by Rutherford. This experiment said that the atom contained a nucleus which had a highly positive charge. When this experiment came out, people drifted away from Thomson's theory on the atomic model and moved towards Rutherford's.

Rutherford scattering Rutherford scattering is a phenomenon in physics that was explained by Ernest Rutherford in 1911,[1] which led to the development of the Rutherford model (planetary model) of the atom, and eventually to the Bohr model. It is now exploited by the materials analytical technique Rutherford backscattering. Rutherford scattering is also sometimes referred to as Coulomb scatteringbecause it relies only upon static electric (Coulomb) forces, and the minimal distance between particles is set only by this potential. The classical Rutherford scattering of alpha particles against gold nuclei is an example of "elastic scattering" because the energy and velocity of the outgoing scattered particle is the same as that with which it began. Rutherford also later analyzed inelastic scattering when he projected alpha particles against hydrogen nuclei (protons) ; however this latter process is not referred to as "Rutherford scattering", although Rutherford was first to observe it. At the end of such processes, noncoulombic forces come into play. These forces, and also energy gained from the scattering particle by the lighter target, change the scattering results in fundamental ways which suggest structural information about the target. A similar process probed the insides of nuclei in the 1960s, and is called deep inelastic scattering. The initial discovery was made by Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden in 1909 when they performed the gold foil experiment under the direction of Rutherford, in which they fired a beam of alpha particles (helium nuclei) at layers of gold leaf only a few atoms thick. At the time of the experiment, the atom was thought to be analogous to a plum pudding (as proposed by J.J. Thomson), with the negative charges (the plums) found throughout a positive sphere (the pudding). If the plum-pudding model were correct, the positive "pudding", being more spread out than in the current model of a concentrated nucleus, would not be able to exert such large coulombic forces, and the alpha particles should only be deflected by small angles as they pass through. However, the intriguing results showed that around 1 in 8000 alpha particles were deflected by very large angles (over 90), while the rest passed straight through with little or no deflection. From this, Rutherford concluded that the majority of the mass was concentrated in a minute, positively charged region (the nucleus/ central charge) surrounded by electrons. When a (positive) alpha particle approached sufficiently close to the nucleus, it was repelled strongly enough to rebound at high angles. The small size of the nucleus explained the small number of alpha particles that were repelled in this way. Rutherford showed, using the method below, that the size of the nucleus was less than about 1014 m (how much less than this size, Rutherford could not tell from this experiment alone; see more below on this problem of lowest possible size).

Rutherford's Atom Model (Main Features)

(i) Every atom consists of a nucleus containing the entire +ve charge. The whole mass of atom is concentrated at this core. (ii) The size of the nucleus i.e., 10-15m is very small compared to the size of the atom (i.e., 1010 m). (iii) The atom as a whole is electrically neutral with electrons revolving around the nucleus in various orbits. The centripetal force provided the electrostatic attraction between electrons and the nucleus. In spite of Rutherford's atomic model successfully explaining the large angle scattering of a particles and justifying the classifications of elements according to their atomic number in the periodic table, there were certain limitations in this model. As the radiating energy of a revolving electron (according to classical electromagnetic theory) continuously decreases the electron should follow a spiral path and fall into the nucleus. So this atomic model could not account for the stability of the atom. The observed spectra of elements cannot be accounted for by the atom model.

Radioactive isotopes[edit] The existence of isotopes was first suggested in 1913 by the radiochemist Frederick Soddy, based on studies of radioactive decay chains that indicated about 40 different species described asradioelements (i.e. radioactive elements) between uranium and lead, although the periodic table only allowed for 11 elements from uranium to lead.[5][6] Several attempts to separate these new radioelements chemically had failed.[7] For example, Soddy had shown in 1910 that mesothorium (later shown to be 228Ra), radium (226Ra, the longest-lived isotope), and thorium X (224Ra) are impossible to separate.[8] Attempts to place the radioelements in the periodic table led Soddy and Kazimierz Fajans independently to propose theirradioactive displacement law in 1913, to the effect that alpha decay produced an element two places to the left in the periodic table, while beta decay emission produced an element one place to the right.[9] Soddy recognized that emission of an alpha particle followed by two beta particles led to the formation of an element chemically identical to the initial element but with a mass four units lighter and with different radioactive properties. Soddy proposed that several types of atoms (differing in radioactive properties) could occupy the same place in the table. For example, the alpha-decay of uranium-235 forms thorium-231, while the beta decay of actinium-230 forms thorium-230[7] The term "isotope", Greek for "at the same place", was suggested to Soddy by Margaret Todd, a Scottish physician and family friend, during a conversation in which he explained his ideas to her.[8][10][11][12][13][14]

In the bottom right corner of J. J. Thomson's photographic plate are the separate impact marks for the two isotopes of neon: neon-20 and neon-22.

Nature of Light - Theories Light is a form of energy. Energy can be transferred from one point to another point either by particle motion or by wave motion. Accordingly, different theories on the nature of light have been proposed. The important theories are as follows: Newton's Corpuscular Theory Back to Top According to Sir Issac Newton's Corpuscular Theory, a luminous body continuously emits tiny, light and elastic particles called corpuscles in all directions. When these particles fall on the retina of the eye, they produce the sensation of vision. This theory could explain a number of phenomena concerning light like rectilinear propagation, reflection and refraction. Reflection was explained by assuming that the corpuscles which fall on a smooth surface would bounce back like rubber balls hitting a wall. When this theory was used to explain refraction scientists found that the velocity of light in a denser medium would be more than that in a rarer medium. However, the experimental findings of Foucault pushed back the corpuscular theory of Newton. This corpuscular theory could not explain satisfactorily certain other phenomena. Huygens' Wave Theory Back to Top In 1967 Christian Huygens proposed the wave theory of light. According to this, a luminous body is a source of disturbance in hypothetical medium called ether. The disturbance from the source is propagated in the form of waves through space and the energy is distributed equally in all directions. Even though this theory could satisfactorily explain several optical phenomena, the presence of ether could not be detected. Maxwell's Electromagnetic Theory Back to Top Electromagnetic theory of light was put forward by James Clerk Maxwell in 1873. According to this theory, light consists of fluctuating electric and magnetic fields propagating in the form of electromagnetic waves. But this theory failed to explain the photoelectric effect.

Planck's Quantum Theory Back to Top According to Max Planck's Quantum theory, radiation is not continuous but is made up of tiny packets of energy called photons. However, this theory could not explain other optical phenomena. From all the above theories it is clear that certain optical phenomena can be explained clearly only if light is considered to be made up of particles, while certain other phenomena can be explained only if we consider light as a wave. Thus light appears to have a dual nature.