History of the Atom

  • 465 BCE

    Democritus' Hypothesis

    Democritus hypothesized that atoms are invisible, differ in size, can not be created nor destroyed, they are constantly moving, and that there are an infinite number of them.
  • Period: 464 BCE to

    Democritus, Dalton, Thompson, Rutherford, and Bohr

    These five scientist's discoveries and theories.
  • John Dalton's Theory

    Dalton's theory contains the statements that all matter is made of atoms, all atoms of a given element are identical, all compounds are two or more atoms, and a chemical reaction is the rearrangement of atoms.
  • Thomson's Discovery

    Thomson experimented with a cathode ray tube. He found that cathode Rays were negatively charged. He also found neon gas had positively charged particles. He then discovered electrons.
  • Thomson's Model

    Thomson used plum pudding to create his model. It was stated that an atom was made up of electrons that bounced around inside the atom. This was before the discovery of the nucleus.
  • Rutherford's Model

    Rutherford discovered the atomic nucleus led to his model of the atom. He placed the nucleus in the center and electrons revolved around the nucleus like a solar system.
  • Bohr's Model

    Bohr's model is a solar system like model that has an equal number of positive charge in the nucleus and the negative charge in the electrons that circle the nucleus.