History of the Atom

By 21giemzaal
  • 460 BCE

    Democritus

    Democritus
    Leucippus was Democritus' mentor. He came up with the atomic theory but it was adopted by Democritus. The atomic theory stated that "The universe is composed of two elements: the atoms and the void in which they exist and move"

  • John Dalton

    John Dalton
    Dalton brought the atomic theory into chemistry. While all atoms of an element were identical, different elements had atoms differing the size and mass.

  • Dmitri Mendeleev

    Dmitri Mendeleev
    Dmitri Mendeleev is the father of the periodic table. He noted that repeating patterns of behavior could be seen in the way that elements interact with each other.

  • Eugen Goldstein

    Eugen Goldstein
    Eugen Goldstein discovered the canal rays in 1886. Canal rays are positively charged ions.

  • JJ Thomson

    JJ Thomson
    JJ Thomson discovered the first subatomic particle and the identification of the electron

  • Max Planck

    Max Planck
    Max Planck discovered energy quanta that won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1918

  • Robert Millikan

    Robert Millikan
    Robert Millikan won the Nobel Peace Prize for the measurement of the elementary electricity charge in 1923

  • Ernest Rutherford

    Ernest Rutherford
    Ernest Rutherford overturned JJ Thomson's model in 1911 with his gold foil experiment which he demonstrated that the atom has a tiny but heavy nucleus. He is also known to be the "Father of Nuclear Psychics"

  • Niels Bohr

    Niels Bohr
    Niels Bohr's contribution to the atomic theory was that he made the atomic model. The model shows that the atom is small and has a positively charged nucleus when orbiting around the electrons

  • Erwin Schrodinger

    Erwin Schrodinger
    Erwin Schrodinger used mathematical equations to describe the likelihood of finding an electron in a certain position. The atomic model is known as the quantum model of an atom.

  • James Chadwick

    James Chadwick
    James Chadwick played an important role to the atomic theory as he discovered the Neutron in atoms. He then was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1932 because of his discovery.

  • Werner Heisenberg

    Werner Heisenberg
    Werner Heisenberg is best known for his uncertainty principle and theory for Quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 and got the Noble Peace Prize in 1932 for his research.