Regents Chemistry – ______ History of Atomic Theory
Directions: Research your assigned scientist using the internet, textbooks, reference books, etc., completing the following table. Be sure you are thorough enough to explain the scientist’s contributions to atomic theory to your classmates. A sample for Democritus is on the reverse of this page.
1
What was the full name of your scientist?
- Ernest Rutherford
2
Approximately when did your scientist live?
- 1871 – 1937 (66 years)
3
Of what nationality was your scientist?
- New Zealand, Britain, Canadian
4
If your scientist developed a model of the atom, what was the proposed model of the scientist called? Draw it and label the parts.
- Made the terms “alpha” and “beta”
- Came up with the atomic structure
- Radioactive material took the same amount of time for half of it to decay
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Atomic Structure
5
Describe this model. What subatomic particles were known to this scientist? Which ones that we know of today were yet to be discovered?
- Rutherford was the 1st one to discover the atomic nucleus
- Scientists already had an idea of what electrons were and that “Alpha” and “Beta” were merely another name for them
6
What experiment(s) did the scientist perform that led the scientist to develop his model or learn more about the structure of the atom? (Note: this may not be applicable for all scientists)
Describe 1) what the experiment was, 2) what the outcomes of the experiment were, 3) the conclusions about atomic theory or structure that the scientist drew from the experiment
1) Rutherford conducted his famous “Gold Foil” experiment
2) It established that the atom contained a very physically – small charge which could repel the alpha particles if they came close enough. This established thus the model in which electrons orbited the much larger in mass