Atomic Models
Priya Vanparia & Amie Deng
Thales of Miletus
Scientist Background
Thales was a philosopher and he was one of the Seven Sages of Greece.
- Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher
General Information
Dates of Importance:
582 BC
Achievements:
Founder of school of natural philosophy; introduced mathematics and astronomy to the Greeks.
Philosophy and Contributions to Understanding the Atom:
Thales suggested that water was the basic substance from which the universe is composed and thought the earth floated on water. This is an incorrect hypothesis.
- He was the first person to suggest that all matter was unified by a common building block.
Niels Bohr
Scientist Background
Copenhagen, Denmark
Bohr specialized in theoretical nuclear physics.
He won a Nobel prize regarding the structure of atoms.
Bohr's greatest contribution to modern physics and chemistry was the atomic model. The Bohr model shows the atom as a small, positively charged nucleus surrounded by orbiting electrons.
Bohr was the first to discover that electrons travel in separate orbits around the nucleus and that the number of electrons in the outer orbit determines the properties of an element.
- Atomic model, quantum model, and liquid droplet theory
Important dates related to contribution of Atomic Theory
1922: atomic model, Nobel Peace Prize
- 1912: joined Rutherford
Key Points
He theorized that electrons occupy shells or energy levels.
Explained that elemental properties are related to occupancy of outermost electron shells.
Showed that electrons can jump to higher shells with light absorption and fall back to lower shells with light emission.
- Win Nobel Peace prize for physics in 1922
Description of experimental design to understand the nuclear atom:
He developed an explanation of atomic structure that underlies regularities of the periodic table of elements. His atomic model had atoms built up of successive orbital shells of electrons.
Procedures involved in the experiment:
When Bohr joined Rutherford, he realized that his model wasn't exactly right in which lead him to alter Rutherford's model and later published his own ideas in 1913.
- He also took many notes, which ultimately lead to his development of the Bohr model and his other theories.
Data Collected
Analysis and Conclusions Drawn:
Electrons occupy only certain orbits around the nucleus. Those orbits are stable and are called "stationary" orbits. Electrons orbit the nucleus in discrete paths.
Each orbit has an energy associated with it. The orbit nearest the nucleus has an energy of E1, the next orbit E2, etc.
Energy is absorbed when an electron jumps from a lower orbit to a higher one and energy is emitted when an electron falls from a higher orbit to a lower orbit.
- The energy and frequency of light emitted or absorbed can be calculated by using the difference between the two orbital energies.
Abstract
Philosopher Thales and physicist Niels Bohr were researched in the context of their contributions towards the understanding of the atom. Minimal information was found regarding Thales as he existed in the ancient times of the world, though he implemented that the basic structure of all matter derived from the basic element of water. In contrast, much information was found on Bohr and he created the atomic model, liquid-droplet theory, and the quantum theory. Together, their augmentation aided and shaped chemistry into what it is today.
"Never express yourself more clearly than you are able to think."
Works Cited
Palermo, E. (2013, May 14). Niels Bohr: Biography & Atomic Theory. Retrieved October 24, 2014, from http://www.livescience.com/32016-niels-bohr-atomic-theory.html
PBS. (n.d.). Retrieved October 24, 2014, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dp13at.html