Tabatha Secrease

History of the Atom

-Who were the main characters in the development of the atom?

-John Dalton

-J.J Thomson

-Ernest Rutherford

-Neils Bohr

-Lavosier

-Democritus

-Curie

-Mosely

-Schrodienger

-Chadwick

-Femming

-Millikan

-Fermi

- Why were they vital to the development of the atom?

-John Dalton(1803): Developed atomic theory stated that matter is compossed of atoms of differing weights and combine in simple ratios by weight.

-J.J Thomson(1898): First to discover the electron.

-Ernest Rutherford(1909-1911): Came up with a theory of the structure of the atom and first to discover the proton.

-Neils Bohr(1913): Made numerous contributions to the understanding of atomic structure and quantum mechanics.

-Lavosier(1777): Clarified the concept that an element cannot be broken down by chemical analysis, also devised a theory of the formation of chemical compounds from elements.

-Democritus(442B.C.): Developed atomic theory of the universe, consisted of modern principles of conservation of energy and irreducibility of matter.

-Curie(1898): Curie and his wife stated that radioactive materials cause atoms to break down releasing radiation in the form of energy.

-Mosely(1887-1915): Helped contribute to the development of the periodic table.

-Schrodienger(1926): explained the movement of an electron in an atom as a wave.

-Chadwick(1931): First to discover the neutron and measured the energy of protons emerging from hydrogen atoms.

-Flemming(1881-1955): Contributions in the medical field discovered many antibiotics including Penicillin.

-Millikan(1908-1917): Dealt with

fundamental constituents of the universe, the forces they exert on one another, and the results produced by these forces.

-Fermi(1901-1954): Discovered new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation supervised the design and assembly of an atomic pile known today as a "nuclear reactor".

-What made them different if anything?

- All of these scientists made a new discovery by either coming up with their own theory and testing it until they prove it to be true and make it a law or by using a previous theory from another scientist and just modifying it a little or even a lot to make it more accurate and to prove them as laws and get the credit for it. A lot of times, scientists will take a theory and use the findings of another scientist and do their own experimenting then compare and contribute what they find to help in the understanding of the theory.

- Think about your lessons in history and discuss how the time period that they lived in determined the outcome of their discovery/ or how it influenced those individuals to be the names that we know today (aka did it matter where they grew up or if they had money?)

- The time period in which the scientist lived may have affected the outcome to an extent, but for the most part the only limitation of earlier time periods was the technology. Although there wasn't as much technology available, there are scientists from earlier time periods who discovered and contributed more than scientists in a more advanced time period. For example John Dalton developed the atomic theory in 1803 and Neils Bohr contributed to the understanding of the atomic structure in 1913, John Dalton was from a much earlier time but what he discovered was the base of the discovery and understanding of the atom and without him Bohr's discovery wouldn't have happened.

- Why do we consider the atomic theory still a theory? What are the new developments-

- The atomic theory is still considered a theory because it has not been proven true every single time it is tested, therefore it cannot be created into a law. There have been multiple new developments of the atomic theory as shown in the following website:

http://www.chem1.com/acad/webtext/intro/AT.html

- Why does it matter that we understand the structure of the atom?

- It is important that we understand the structure of the atom because this entire world is composed of atoms, it is what we are and what everything around us is made up of. The understanding of the atom helps us to break down everything in life and realize how things work and what they are made up of.