History of Atoms

  • Dalton

    He proposed the Atomic theory of matter based on his experimental observations. The main postulates of Dalton’s atomic theory are as follows. To Dalton : All matter is made of atoms. Atoms are indivisible and indestructible. All atoms of a given element are identical in mass and properties. Compounds are formed by a combination of two or more different kinds of atoms. A chemical reaction is a rearrangement of atoms. Atoms can be neither created nor destroyed.
  • Thomson

    An atom consists of a sphere of positive charge with negatively charged electron embedded in it. The positive and the negative charges in an atom are equal in magnitude, due to which an atom is electrically neutral. It has no over all negative or positive charge.
  • Rutherford

    He showed that while the nucleus contains virtually all of the mass of the atom, it only takes up one-billionth of the volume of the atom, an inconceivably tiny amount. Much smaller particles - electrons - orbit the nucleus at a great distance, relatively speaking.
  • Bohr

    orbit the nucleus without losing energy; could move only in fixed orbits of specific energies. Electrons with low energy would orbit closer to the nucleus while electrons with high energy orbit further from the nucleus.
  • Democrtius

    Matter could not be divided into smaller and smaller pieces forever, eventually the smallest possible piece would be obtained. This piece would be indivisible. He named the smallest piece of matter “atomos,” meaning “not to be cut.”