Atomic Timeline

By Kate P.
  • 427 BCE

    Plato

    Plato
    Plato theorized that the solid forms of matter are composed of indivisible elements shaped like triangles.
  • 400 BCE

    Democritus

    Democritus
    Democritus theorized that atoms were specific to the material which they composed.
  • Robert Boyle

    Robert Boyle
    Boyle discovered the volume of a gas is inversely proportional to its pressure. If the pressure goes up, then the volume goes down.
  • The Alchemists

    The Alchemists
    The Alchemists believed that all metals were formed from two principles mercury and sulfur.
  • Antone Lavoisier

    Antone Lavoisier
    Lavoisier defined the law of conservation of mass and discovered mass is neither created nor destroyed in chemical reactions
  • Billiard Ball Model

    Billiard Ball Model
    Created in the early 1800's by John Dalton. Shows the shape of an atom.
  • John Dalton

    John Dalton
    Dalton's theory suggested that all matter was comprised of indivisible and indestructible atoms with distinct masses and properties.
  • Amadeo Avogadro

    Amadeo Avogadro
    Avogrado discovered that equal volumes of gas contain an equal number of molecules.
  • Dmitri Mendeleev

    Dmitri Mendeleev
    Mendeleev invented the periodic table.
  • JJ Thompson

    JJ Thompson
    Thompson discovered the electron.
  • Pierre and Marie

    Pierre and Marie
    Pierre and Marie discovered radioactive elements such as polonium and radium.
  • The Plum Pudding Model

    The Plum Pudding Model
    Created by Thomas Thompson in 1904. Shows the positive and negative charges in an atom.
  • Albert Einstein

    Albert Einstein
    Einstein mathematically proved the existence of atoms.
  • Robert Millikan

    Robert Millikan
    Millikan found the accurate determination of the charge carried by an electron.
  • Ernest Rutherford

    Ernest Rutherford
    Rutherford established that the mass of the atom is concentrated in its nucleus.
  • Henry G.J. Mosely

    Henry G.J. Mosely
    Mosely discovered the number of positive charges in the nucleus of an atom- the atomic number.
  • The Solar System Model

    The Solar System Model
    Created by Neils Bohr in 1913. Shows the nucleus compromised of positive and neutral charges surrounded by negative charges.
  • Neils Bohr

    Neils Bohr
    Bohr proposed a model of the atom in which the electron was able to occupy only certain orbits around the nucleus.
  • Electron Cloud Model

    Electron Cloud Model
    Created in 1926 by Erin Schrödinger and Werner Heisenburg. Shows nucleus surrounded by a cloud of negative charges- the electrons.
  • James Chadwich

    James Chadwich
    Chadwich discovered the neutron.