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The Atom (atomos)
Ancient Greek Philosophers were among the first to discover that if you continuously cut something up to reduce its size, eventually it can't be cut anymore. They named this miniscule object 'atomos' meaning 'that which is invisible'. -
Period: Mar 1, 1500 to
Little Advancement
Many theories scientists had about atoms were being diesregarded in this timespan, so as a result, little advancement was made in the study of atoms. -
Daltons Discoveries
One of John Dalton's (a British Chemisist) most famous theories was that each element is composed of many atoms. Also, he believed that each element had atoms with different masses. -
Thomsons Discoveries
J.J Thomson (a British scientist) discovered a very important component of the atom. The electron. Later on, he updated his model of the atom to infer that it was really a sphere positively charged with electrons all along it. -
Nagaokas Discoveries
Hantaro Nagaoka (a Japanese physisist) created a model of the atom that is described as a large, positively charged sphere with electrons rapidly rotating around it. -
Rutherfords Discoveries
Ernest Rutherford (a British physisist) decided that an atom is probably made up of empty space. With a nucleus at the center, negatively charged electrons chaotically revolve around it. -
Bohrs Discoveries
Niels Boehr (a Danish physisist) proposed a different looking model than the previous, where electrons moved in specific layers, never randomly. He infered that atoms absorb and/or give off energy when the elctrons switch layers. -
Chadwicks Discoveries
James Chadwick (a British physisist) discovered another important part of the atom. No, not the electron... the neutron! Neutron's entire existence showed why atoms could be heavier than the combined mass of their electrons and protons. -
The Atom we Know
All the work done over the years has to contributed to our view of the modern atom. Now, we know that Electrons are like a negatively charged cloud, bouncing around the nucleus. Right now, it is impossible to predict where an atom is or will be at any moment.
