Atomic Theory

  • Period: 460 BCE to 370 BCE

    Democritus

    Contributions
    -Matter is composed of atoms, which move through empty space.
    -Atoms are solid, homogeneous,indestructible, and invisible.
    -Different kinds of atoms have different sizes and shapes.
    -Size, shape, and movement of atoms determine the properties of matter.
  • Period: 384 BCE to 322 BCE

    Aristotle

    Contributions
    -Empty Space Cannot Exist.
    -Matter is made of earth, fire, air, and water.
  • Period: to

    Anton Lavoisier

    Contributions
    -Father of Chemistry
    -Disproved phlogiston theory by showing that oxygen was a major part in combustion
    -Discovered that no chemical mass is lost in a chemical reaction (Law of Conservation of Mass)
  • Period: to

    Dalton

    Contributions
    -Developed hypothesis that atoms are a type of solid sphere. Four primary statements in his theory: atoms make up all matter, atoms join to form compounds, & that within the same mass, all atoms are identical and indivisible.
    -Matter is composed of extremely small particles called atoms.
    -Atoms of a given element are identical in size, mass and chemical properties.
    -Atoms of a specific element are different from those of another element.
  • Period: to

    Sir J.J. Thompson

    Contributions
    -Determined the charge -to- mass ratio
    -Concluded that the mass of the charged particle was much less than that of a hydrogen atom
    -Plum Pudding Model-atom is a sphere of positively and negatively charged electrons that balance the total positive charge.
  • Period: to

    Robert Millikan

    Contributions
    -Determined the charge of an electron using the oil drop apparatus
    -Determined that the magnitude of the charge on each drop increased in discrete amounts and determined that the smallest common denominator was 1.602x10*-19
    -Calculated the mass of an electron
  • Period: to

    Sir Ernest Rutherford

    Contributions
    -Was the first to split the atom
    -Awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for atomic structure theory
    -Called "Father of the Nuclear Age"
    - His atomic model describes the atom as a tiny dense positively charged core called a nucleus
  • Period: to

    Albert Einstein

    Contributions
    -Created Theory of Relativity
    -Originated Quantum Theory
    -Created Theory of Critical Opalescence
    -Nobel Prize in Physics
    -Einsteinium is the element named for him
    -Considered by many to be the most influential scholar of all time
  • Period: to

    Niels Bohr

    Contributions
    -Great contribution to modern physics was the atomic model
    -The Bohr Model shows the atom as a small, positively charged nucleus surrounded by orbiting electrons.
    -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
    -The chemical elements Bohrium is named for him.
  • Period: to

    Erwin Schrodinger

    Contributions
    -Contributed to the theory of Quantum Mechanics
    -Discovered that life feeds on negative entropy
    -Thought that genetic information was stored in molecules and this thought caused Watson and Crick to eventually discover DNA.
    -Electron Cloud Model-describes where electrons are when they go around the nucleus of an atom.
  • Period: to

    Sir James Chadwick

    Contributions
    -Discovered the neutron
    -Neutron discovery lead to eventual creation of neutron bomb
    -Was a leading advocate for creating atomic bomb
  • Period: to

    Friedrich Hund

    Contributions
    -Made contributions to Quantum Theory about atom structure and structure of molecular spectra
    -Hund's Rules named for him (electron configuration, spectroscopy, and quantum chemistry)
  • Period: to

    Wolfgang Pauli

    Contributions
    -Pioneer of Quantum Physics
    -Formulated "Pauli Principle"- no two electrons in an atom can have identical sets of quantum numbers
  • Period: to

    Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner and Fritz Strassmann

    Contributions
    -Each worked on separate experiments that made them partially responsible for the discovery of fission.
    -Found that if you attack elements with neutrons, most will have some change but Uranium will split in half and each new piece will become radioactive.
    -Discoveries lead to formation of the Manhattan Project
  • Period: to

    The Aufbau Principle

    Electrons orbiting one or more atoms fill the lowest energy levels first before filling higher ones. This makes electrons more stable.