The history of the atom begins around 450 B.C. with a Greek philosopher named Democritus (see Figure 5.7). Democritus wondered what would happen if you cut a piece of matter, such as an apple, into smaller and smaller pieces. He thought that a point would be reached where matter could not be cut into still smaller pieces. He called these "uncuttable" pieces atomos. This is where the modern term atom comes from. Democritus was an important philosopher. However, he was less influential than the Greek philosopher Aristotle, who lived about 100 years after Democritus. Aristotle rejected Democrituss idea of atoms. In fact, Aristotle thought Around 1800, a British chemist named John Dalton revived Democrituss early ideas about the atom. Dalton is pictured in Figure 5.8. He made a living by teaching and just did research in his spare time. Nonetheless, from his research results, he developed one of the most important theories in science. Dalton did many experiments that provided evidence for atoms. For example, he studied the pressure of gases. He concluded that gases must consist of tiny particles in constant motion. Dalton also researched the properties of compounds. He showed that a compound always consists of the same elements in the same ratio. On the other hand, different compounds always consist of different elements or ratios. This can happen, Dalton reasoned, only if elements are made of tiny particles that can combine in an endless variety of ways. From his research, Dalton developed a theory of the atom. You can learn more about Dalton and his research by watching the video at this URL: (9:03). MEDIA Click image to the left or use the URL below. URL: The atomic theory Dalton developed consists of three ideas: All substances are made of atoms. Atoms are the smallest particles of matter. They cannot be divided into smaller particles. They also cannot be created or destroyed. All atoms of the same element are alike and have the same mass. Atoms of different elements are different and have different masses. Atoms join together to form compounds. A given compound always consists of the same kinds of atoms in the same ratio. Daltons theory was soon widely accepted. Most of it is still accepted today. The only part that is no longer accepted is his idea that atoms are the smallest particles. Scientists now know that atoms consist of even smaller particles. Dalton incorrectly thought that atoms are tiny solid particles of matter. He used solid wooden balls to model them. The sketch in the Figure 5.9 shows how Daltons model atoms looked. He made holes in the balls so they could be joined together with hooks. In this way, the balls could be used to model compounds. When later scientists discovered subatomic particles (particles smaller than the atom itself), they realized that Daltons models were too simple. They didnt show that atoms consist of even smaller particles. Models including these smaller particles were later developed. The next major advance in the history of the atom was the discovery of electrons. These were the first subatomic particles to be identified. They were discovered in 1897 by a British physicist named J. J. Thomson. You can learn more about Thomson and his discovery at this online exhibit: . Thomson was interested in electricity. He did experiments in which he passed an electric current through a vacuum tube. The experiments are described in Figure 5.10. Thomsons experiments showed that an electric current consists of flowing, negatively charged particles. Why was this discovery important? Many scientists of Thomsons time thought that electric current consists of rays, like rays of light, and that it is positive rather than negative. Thomsons experiments also showed that the negative particles are all alike and smaller than atoms. Thomson concluded that the negative particles couldnt be fundamental units of matter because they are all alike. Instead, they must be parts of atoms. The negative particles were later named electrons. Thomson knew that atoms are neutral in electric charge. So how could atoms contain negative particles? Thomson thought that the rest of the atom must be positive to cancel out the negative charge. He said that an atom is like
Output: In the plum pudding model of the atom, the plums represent