Unit 1: Atomic Structure

AP Chemistry

Evolution of Atomic Theory

 Democritus 400 B.C.
Greek Philosopher
Imagined particles
that were
indivisible
Constituents of
matter
Atom comes from
atomos
Opposed Aristotle
Aristotle 350 B.C.
Widely accepted
theory that all
matter can be
continually
divided.
Set science back
for thousands of
years.
 Alchemy

A pseudoscience that superceded

scientific discoveries.
Alchemists attempted to turn
metals into gold and developing the
elixir of life (able to cause
immortality and create life).
 Pierre Gassendi - 1650
Reintroduced
Particulate theory
No experimental
evidence
Supported by Sir
Isaac Newton
Robert Boyle - 1661
Studied Gases
1st to use the term
element in its
current context in
his book The
Skeptical Chemist
 George Stahl - 1717
Suggested
phlogiston
flowed from
burning material
A necessary
ingredient of
combustible
material
Joseph Priestly - 1774
discovered oxygen
supports
combustion
Antoine Lavoisier - 1778
Developed Law of
Conservation of
Mass
Explained
combustion
 Joseph Proust - 1799
Developed Prousts
Law using copper
oxide
Later renamed, the
Law of Definite
Proportions
Nearly discovered the
Law of multiple
proportions, but his
data used percentages
instead of weights.
John Dalton - 1802
First to develop an
atomic theory. It
has 4 postulates.
Each element is made
up of atoms
Atoms of the same
element are identical
in mass and
properties. Atoms of
different elements
differ in some way.
John Dalton - 1802
Compounds are made
when atoms combine.
If elements combine
in more than one
whole number ratio,
the resulting
compound has
different properties
Chemical reactions
involve the
reorganization of
atoms.
 Amedeo Avogadro - 1811
Developed
Avogadros Law.
Equal volumes of
gases have equal
number of
molecules at
constant
temperature and
pressure.
Expanded Daltons
concept of atomic
masses
 J.J. Berzelius - 1813
Established the 1st
system of using
letters to
represent
elements.
William Prout - 1815
Proposed that
Hydrogen was the
fundamental
material that all
other elements
were made from.
All atomic masses
were multiples of
the mass of
hydrogen.
 Michael Faraday - 1833
Found Faradays
Constant. 1 mole
of e- = 96500
coulombs.
Alexandre Bguyer de Chancourtois -
1862

1st periodic
arrangement of
elements.
Divided surface of
a cylindrical base
into 16 segments
because oxygen
has a mass of 16.
John Newland - 1863
Developed the law
of octaves
Properties of
elements repeat
every eighth
element.
 Dimitri Mendeleev - 1869
Classification
based on chemical
properties.
Considered the
first periodic table.
Left gaps for
missing elements
and predicted their
properties
William Crookes - 1879
Showed that
cathode rays
stream from the
negative pole
 Eugene Goldstein - 1886

Discovered the proton using a

cathode ray tube.
 William Roentgen - 1895
Discovered x-rays.
Rays were
penetrating and of
short wavelength
 Henri Becquerel - 1896
Discovered
radioactivity.
Used uranium
salts
Marie Curie - 1897
Student of
Becquerel
Showed that
radioactivity is
atomic property
Isolated radium
and polonium
 J.J. Thomson - 1897
Determined the
mass/charge ratio
of the electron.
5.69 x 10-9
Used the cathode
ray tube
Proposed a model
of the atom that
was mockingly
called the plum
pudding model
Robert Millikan - 1909
Determined the
charge of the
electron using the
famous oil-drop
experiment
1.60 x 10-19
From this and
Thomsons value,
the mass was
calculated to be
9.11 x 10-28g
 Ernest Rutherford - 1911
Performed the
famous gold foil
experiment
Determined 3
things
The atom is mostly
empty space
The nucleus is
positively charged
The nucleus is a
small dense part of
the atom
Gold Foil Experiment
Gold Foil Experiment
 Henry Moseley - 1913
Calculated atomic
number by
determining the
nuclear charge of
an atom.
Niels Bohr - 1913
Observed spectral
lines for hydrogen
Proposed an orbit
theory of the
electron around
the atom.
Bohr Model
Hydrogen Spectrum
Gilbert Lewis - 1916
Suggested that
noble gases have
8 valence
electrons
Atoms will gain or
lose electrons to
achieve 8 outer
electrons.
Louis De broglie - 1924
Suggested that
matter could
exhibit wave
properties
Observed
diffraction patterns
in electrons
 Wolfgang Pauli - 1924
Pauli Exclusion
Principle 2
electrons cannot
have the same 4
quantum numbers
Erwin Schrdinger - 1926
Developed a wave
equation.
Mathematical
function that
described the
nature of the
electron
 James Chadwick - 1932
Discovered the
neutron
 Other Contributions

C.D. Anderson 1932

Discovered the positron
Enrico Fermi 1940
Prepared more than 40 radioactive
elements