A Brief Look Into The Evolution Of The From Atomic Theory

John Dalton wrote the modern atomic theory, a fundamental component of that is, the mole ratios of elements in a compound will be small whole numbers.

In this experiment, you will have a chance to test the hypothesis that Ernest Rutherford used when determining the size of the nucleus. In his "gold foil experiment," Rutherford shot alpha particles at gold atoms. Once he realized that the alpha particles were hitting a concentrated positive mass, he developed the nuclear model of the atom. Next, he set out to determine the relative size of the nucleus compared to the rest of the atom. He reasoned that the smaller the nucleus, the less likely it was to be hit by an alpha particle. This led to a simple comparative ratio:

The Ancient Greeks were the firsts to speculate on the composition of matter. They thought that it was possible that individual particles made up matter.

Quantum Mechanics is the science of subatomic particles and their behavior patterns that are observed in nature. As the foundation of scientific knowledge approached the start of the twentieth century, problems began to arise over the fact that classic physical ideas were not capable of explaining the observed behavior of subatomic particles. In 1913, the Danish physicist Neils Bohr, proposed a successful quantum model of the atom that began the process of a more defined understanding of its subatomic particles. It was accepted in the early part of the twentieth century that light traveled as both waves and particles. The reason light appears to act as a wave and particle is because we are noticing the

This will lead to an explanation of motion, the development of the calculus, and the establishment of basic laws of modern physics.

2. Inquiry into the disintegrative process by w/in atoms became a central theme in new physics in part do to experimental work of

  The understanding of the structure of atoms has changed throughout history. The first documented case of the discovery of atoms dates back to 450 B.C with two Greek philosophers, Leucippus and Democritus (Doc. 1). This was only a theory; however, they proposed the idea that all matter is made up of atoms.

He stated that this was a mysterious force but never continued his research on it. Then in 460 B.C. there was a philosopher named Democritus. Democritus and his mentor Leocippus posed the question that if he broke bread into multiple pieces how many would breaks would it take until there was no more bread. He then was able to make a few theories being all matter was created of atoms and atoms are solid but not invisible. However, there was a man named Aristotle and many other philosophers who disagreed with Democritus and said matter was composed of four main elements. Earth, fire, air, and water. For example, a liquid was made of water and a stone was made of rock. Therefore, Democritus’s theory “ was rejected by Aristotle, one of the most influential philosophers of Ancient Greece; and the atomic theory was ignored for nearly 2,000 years.”(

Within the last hundred years, the atomic model gone through dramatic changes allowing to apply the knowledge of matter understanding at atomic level into different industries like medicine such as MRI and X-Ray. This knowledge allowed doctors to treat, diagnose and certainly save millions of people throughout the years, which could not have been done without research being done on the structure of the atom funded continuously for these scientists to find more application which benefit people and comprehend the world we live in on an atomic level.

Democritus made the atomic theory widely known, which stated that the universe is composed of two elements: the atoms and the void in which these atoms exist and move. (More, 1646)

At the beginning of the twentieth century a scientist called Albert Einstein had a special theory about atoms. His theory was that atoms had a lot of energy locked within them. After this theory was published scientists worked hard to prove that this theory was true. After thirty years of experiments they discovered that within the nucleus there is a lot of energy and splitting the atom would release it.

The Discovery of the Atom first came from the Greeks which made a theory “The idea that all matter is made up of tiny, indivisible particles, or atoms, is believed to have originated with the Greek philosopher Leucippus of Miletus and his student Democritus of Abdera in the 5th century B.C. (The word atom comes from the Greek word atomos, which means “indivisible.”)” (InfoPlease Atomic theory)

After graduation from the Gymnasium in 1906, Schrödinger embarked on his career in physics. His most prominent innovation was the wave equation; a formula that states the speed of a wave, its wavelength, and frequency (v=f x y) (“Haselhurst”). With the wave equation postulated, a confined particle, with known momentum and energy functions, could be depicted with a specific wave function (“Haselhurst”). This equation not only proved that only specific wave frequencies could exist, which coincides to certain energy states, but it showed that electrons follow a complicated orbital, with varying degrees of possibility. Schrödinger also conducted eminent research on Quantum Mechanics with his memorable “Schrödinger’s Cat” experimentation (“Haselhurst”). This prominent research involved placing a cat in a box with a vile of poison, which were disintegrating alpha particles that would burst at any

Introduction The Quantum Theory was the second of two theories which drastically changed the way we look at our physical world today, the first being Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Although both theories revolutionized the world of physics, the Quantum Theory required a period of over three decades to develop, while the Special Theory of Relativity was created in a single year. The development of the Quantum Theory began in 1887 when a German physicist, Heinrich Hertz, was testing Maxwell’s Theory of Electromagnetic Waves.

He proposed that under certain circumstances light could be considered a particles. He also hypothesized that the energy carried by a photon is depositional to the frequency of radiation. The formula E= HU proves this. Virtually no one accepted this theory but thought differently when Robert Andrews Millikan proved it.