Atom

Developing Models of the Atom

  • 400 BCE

    Democritus

    Democritus
    Democritus theorized the concept of atoms making up all matter.
  • 350 BCE

    Aristotle

    Aristotle
    Aristotle proposed that everything was made from the four elements fire, earth, wind, and water.
  • 700

    Alchemy

    Alchemy
    The experiments of alchemists contributed to glassmaking, metalworking, and ceramics. Their work led to the foundation for the first periodic table of elements.
  • Robert Boyle

    Robert Boyle
    Robert Boyle created Boyle's laws which say that the volume of gas decreases with increasing pressure. His results implied that gasses are made of particles.
  • American Revolution

    American Revolution
    The American's rebelled against the British.
  • John Dalton

    John Dalton
    John Dalton came up with the atomic theory which states that elements consist of indivisible particles, all atoms of the same element are identical, and atoms can neither be created or destroyed.
  • American Civil War

    American Civil War
    The northern Union fought against the southern Confederates.
  • Dmitri Mendeleev

    Dmitri Mendeleev
    Dmitri Mendeleev created the first periodic table.
  • J.J. Thomson

    J.J. Thomson
    J.J. Thomson performed the cathode ray experiment which showed the existence of electrons. Through this experiment he developed the plum pudding model.
  • Hans Geiger

    Hans Geiger
    Hans Geiger discovered alpha and beta particles. He worked with Rutherford on the gold foil experiments and developed the Geiger counter to measure alpha particles.
  • Robert Millikan

    Robert Millikan
    Robert Millikan determined the charge of the electron with the oil drop experiment.
  • Ernest Rutherford

    Ernest Rutherford
    Ernest Rutherford discovered the atomic nucleus via the gold foil experiment.
  • Niels Bohr

    Niels Bohr
    Niels Bohr proposed a model in which electrons travel in separate orbits around the nucleus.
  • World War I

    World War I
    The first global world war.
  • James Chadwick

    James Chadwick
    James Chadwick performed an experiment in which he bombarded beryllium with alpha particles. Through this he discovered neutrons.
  • World War II

    World War II
    The second global world war was fought between the allies and the axis powers.
  • Hiroshima

    Hiroshima
    America dropped the first nuclear bomb on Japan.