-
400 BCE
Democritus Hypothesis
Democritus was from Abdera Greece, he lived from 460-370 B.C.
Democritus hypothesized that humans are made up of really small particles and that these particles can't be divided. He called them atoms, derived from the Greek word "atomos," meaning indivisible. However, his atomic theory was not received by the community, because he did not have money or popularity. He was overshadowed by a guy named Aristotle who said that everything is made up of earth, wind, fire, and water. -
399 BCE
Democritus Hypothesis Pt. 2
Democritus and his teacher Leucippus helped develop this information together while they were studying in Trace, Greece.
Interesting Facts: He was one of the first to realize that space is limitless. He is also known as the "laughing philosopher," because of how much he devoted himself to be cheerful. He had two siblings, Herodotus, and Damastes. -
398
Democritus Bibliograhpy
Duignan, Brian. “Democritus.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 26 Feb. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Democritus. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, www.iep.utm.edu/democrit/ Berryman, Sylvia. “Democritus.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 2 Dec. 2016, plato.stanford.edu/entries/democritus/. -
Antoine Lavoisier
Antoine Lavoisier was born in August of 1743 in Paris, France and he died in Paris in 1794. Lavoisier named the elements carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. He proved that oxygen and hydrogen combine to make water and discovered the element sulfur. He discovered that oxygen has a role in combustion and respiration. Lavoisier disproved the theory of Philostigin and discovered the conservation of mass. Finally, he helped transform chemistry into science about quantity, not about quality. -
Antoine Lavoisier Pt. 2
One experiment that Lavoisier did, was put a diamond into a jar, and he put a giant magnifying glass on that jar, and the sun burned the diamond inside of it. He also did this with charcoal. He realized that the weight of the jar with the substance did not change even after it burned, and that is how he found the conservation of mass. He also realized that when he burned charcoal and the diamond they released the same gas, and that they are made up of the same element Carbon. -
Antoine Lavoisier Pt. 3
Antoine Lavoisier is known as the father of modern chemistry. He predicted the element of Silicon and discovered the composition fo Oxygen and Hydrogen. He was elected to the French Academy of Sciences, as well as given a medal by the King of France for his paper on urban street lights. Originally, he was a lawyer, but he switched to science after a few years. -
Antoine Lavoisier Bibliography
“Fun Facts for Kids about Antoine Lavoisier.” Easy Science For Kids, 3 Oct. 2018, easyscienceforkids.com/antoine-lavoisier/. “Home.” Famous Scientists, www.famousscientists.org/antoine-lavoisier/. Donovan, Arthur L. “Antoine Lavoisier.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27 Mar. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Antoine-Lavoisier. -
John Dalton
John Dalton was born in September in 1766, in Eaglesfield New England and lived in the UK all through his life, and died in July of 1844. John Dalton is most notably known for his atomic theory. It stated that an atom is the smallest indivisible piece of matter that still retain properties of an element. Atoms of the same element (isotopes) are the same. Atoms of different elements are different. Atoms unite in whole number ratios to form compounds. -
John Dalton Pt. 2
Dalton also created the law of partial pressures and was the origin of stoichiometry. He found his atomic theory by experiment with different gasses, and watched how they reacted with each other, and noted constants between them. He founded his law on partial pressures by citing how much water vapor can be evaporated at different temperatures. He was the origin of stoichiometry because he hypothesized that different atoms have different weights. -
John Dalton Pt. 3
John Dalton was working as a teacher by the time he was twelve years old and eventually taught at Manchester University. He had two mentors, John Gough, and Elihu Robinson who he met through his Quaker school. John Dalton spent a significant amount of time on color blindness and was the first person to ever write a paper about the subject. -
John Dalton Bibliography
John Dalton, chemed.chem.
purdue.edu/genchem/
history/dalton.html. “Anirudh.” Learnodo Newtonic, 13 Sept. 2018,
learnodo-newtonic.com/john-dalton-facts. Ross, Sydney. “John Dalton.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 9 Oct. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/John-Dalton. -
J.J. Thomson Pt. 1
J.J. Thomson was born in December of 1856 in Manchester, England, and lived there until his death in August of 1940. He is known for his discovery of the electron, isotope, and the subatomic particle. He founded the information about the electron, by making a crooks tube, and shooting electrons across a magnet to prove that an electron had a negative charge, and that charge was attracted to a positive force since opposites attract. -
J.J. Thomson Pt. 2
He found isotopes by shooting neon particles through an electric field and watched the differences on a photographic plate. He was awarded the 1906 Noble Peace Prize for his discovery of the electron. He was knighted by the Queen of England in 1908 and was given the order of Merit in 1912. In 1918, he also became the Master of Trinity College and was the master until he died. -
J.J. Thomson Bibliography
“J.J. Thomson Facts.” Math,
www.softschools.com/facts/scientists
/jj_thomson_facts/1605/. “J.J. Thomson.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television,
17 Apr. 2019, www.biography.com/scientist/jj-thomson. “The Nobel Prize in Physics 1906.” NobelPrize.org, www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1906/thomson/facts/. -
Marie Curie
Marie Curie was born in November of 1867 in Warsaw, Poland, and lived there in most of her life until her death in a sanitorium in Eastern France in 1934. She left a big impact on the atom. She discovered two elements Polonium, and Radium, she came up with the theory about radioactivity, and techniques on how to isolate radioactive isotopes. These theories of isolating radioactive isotopes have led to the treatment of neoplasms, as well as the invention of portable X-ray machines. -
Marie Curie Pt.2
Marie Curie is one of the most famous female scientists in the industry. She was the first women to win the Noble Prize and was the first women to win the Noble Prize in two different science fields. She named Polonium the element polonium after her home country of Poland. Her daughter also won the Noble Prize in 1935. She spent so much time around radioactive elements, that her journals are radioactive. Also, when WW1 broke out, she offered to have her medals melted down for the gold. -
Marie Curie Pt.3
Marie Curie discovered the elements polonium and radium, as well as isolating radioactive isotopes by experimenting with the mineral pitchblende. The mineral pitchblende is mostly made up of Uranium, which pointed Curie to believe that there was more to the element than just Uranium. She worked to chemically isolate the elements other than Uranium, and that led to the discovery of Polonium and Radium. -
Marie Curie Bibliography
“The Great Invention of Marie Curie.” OpenMind, 4 Mar. 2019, www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/science/leading-figures/the-great-invention-of-marie-curie/. “10 Radiant Facts About Marie Curie.” Mental Floss, 26 Apr. 2018, mentalfloss.com/article/537552/facts-about-marie-curie. “The Nobel Prize in Physics 1903.” NobelPrize.org, www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1903/marie-curie/biographical/. -
Max Planck
Max Planck was a German physicist who was born in 1858, in Kiehl, Germany and lived in Germany until his death in Gottingen Germany, in 1947. He is known for the discovery of Planck's Constant, and Planck's Law of Radiation. Planck's Constant is the physical constant that is the quantum of electromagnetic radiation which shows that the frequency of a photon is equal to the frequency multiplied by Planck's Constant. He derived this constant from Black-body radiation. -
Max Planck Pt. 2
In 1901, Planck came up with the black-body radiation curve, that showed how much radiation the electromagnetic waves could hold based on the temperature. Planck was very smart, and when he was done with college he became very interested in the subject of thermodynamics, which is the study of how heat and energy react with each other. This lead to countless experiments on radiation and photons, which helped him discover Planck's Constant, and Planck's Law of Black-body Radiation. -
Max Planck Pt. 3
Planck won the Noble Prize in 1918 for his discoveries in the field of physics. He was a fourth generation professor. Before choosing science, he was a very talented musician. He was very close with Albert Einstein and often had him over at his house to play music. His house in Berlin was completely obliterated by an allied troop nuclear bomb. -
Max Planck Bibliography
Stuewer, Roger H. “Max Planck.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 19 Apr. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Max-Planck. “The Nobel Prize in Physics 1918.” NobelPrize.org, www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1918/planck/biographical/. “MAX PLANCK.” Max Planck - Important Scientists - The Physics of the Universe, www.physicsoftheuniverse.com/scientists_planck.html. -
Robert Millikan
Robert Millikan was born on March 22, 1868, in Illinois, and lived in the U.S. until his death in 1953 in California. His greatest contributions to the atomic theory have been the oil drop experiment, used to find the charge of an electron. He also found the Photoelectric Effect, which is the effect on electrons when light falls on them. The oil drop experiment is one of the most notorious experiments done to help figure out the atom. He would place oil drops between two electric fields. -
Robert Millikan Pt.2
Then, when he would turn them on, and if the oil drops were big enough they would rise. Robert Millikan received his Ph.D. at the University of Columbia. In 1923, he won the Noble Peace Prize for his work on the photoelectric effect, and he won the Hughes Medal, for original discovery in physical sciences. When he was younger he worked as a court reporter for his local courthouse. -
Robert Millikan Bibliography
“The Nobel Prize in Physics 1923.” NobelPrize.org, www.nobelprize.org/prizes/
physics/1923/millikan/biographical/. Study.com, Study.com, study.com/academy
/lesson/robert-millikan-biography-atomic-theory-oil-drop-experiment.html. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Robert Millikan.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia
Britannica, Inc., 18 Mar. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Millikan. -
Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford was born in August of 1871, in New Zealand, and lived there in New Zealand and in England. He died in England in October of 1937. He is most famous for his discovery of the proton, atomic nucleus, and the Rutherford model. He found the proton by conducting the gold foil experiment. In this experiment, Rutherford shot alpha particles through a piece of gold foil, and noticed that most of the particles would go through the gold foil, but sometimes they bounced back. -
Ernest Rutherford Pt. 2
This showed that atoms were mostly empty space, but they have a very dense positively charged nucleus, which contained most of the mass of the atom. He was four of twelve children in his family. He invented a receiver that could detect radio waves, which earned him a huge scholarship to study in England and often worked with J.J. Thomson, the founder of the electron. He was also the first person from Oceania to win the Noble Prize. -
Ernest Rutherford Bibliography
“Anirudh.” Learnodo Newtonic, 13 Sept. 2018, learnodo-newtonic.com/ernest-rutherford-facts. “The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1908.” NobelPrize.org, www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1908/rutherford/biographical/ Badash, Lawrence. “Ernest Rutherford.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 26 Feb. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Ernest-Rutherford. -
Niels Bohr Pt. 2
The Bohr Model could account for the series of discrete wavelengths in the emission spectrum. Light radiated from hydrogen atoms only when an electron made a transition from an outer orbit to one closer to the nucleus. The energy lost by the electron in the abrupt transition is the same as the energy of the quantum of emitted light. Bohr used this model to help further understand the quantum theory. -
Niels Bohr Pt. 3
Niels Bohr was notorious at his college for making explosions in the lab. He often had disagreements with J.J. Thomson, especially about the plum pudding model. He always believed that nuclear power should be used for peace, not warfare. Finally, Bohr had an element named Bohrium, which is very radioactive, and very hard to make. -
Niels Bohr
Niel Bohr is a Danish physicist, that was born in 1885 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and studied in Denmark until his death in 1962 in Copenhagen. His mark on the atomic theory is his theory that energy is transferred only in certain quantities. Electrons should move around the nucleus but only in certain orbits. His theory explain why atoms emitted light in fixed wavelengths. He came to this discovery by using the Bohr Model. -
Niels Bohr Bibliography
“13 Facts About Physicist Niels Bohr.” Mental Floss, 9 July 2018, mentalfloss.com/article/544594/facts-about-physicist-niels-bohr. “The Nobel Prize in Physics 1922.” NobelPrize.org, www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1922/bohr/biographical/. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Niels-Bohr -
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist who was born in Ulm, Germany in 1879 and studied in there and in the U.S. until his death in 1955. In 1905, Einstein published four papers that were crucial to the Atomic Theory. The biggest of these four papers was his general theory of relativity. His theory was, that the laws of physics are the same for all non-accelerating observers and that the speed of light within a vacuum is the same no matter the speed at which an observer travels. -
Albert Einstein Pt. 2
As a result, he found that space and time were interwoven into a single continuum known as space-time. Events that occur at the same time for one observer could occur at different times for another. This can be seen with a shooting star because depending on when you see it, it may be different for when someone else sees it. He started to do this experiment after determining his theory about specific relativity. -
Albert Einstein Pt. 3
Albert Einstein was offered to be the President of Isreal but declined because he did not have the mature aptitude to be president. He also was very interested in sailing but was never very good at it. Eisenstein for being so smart never learned to swim. Finally, Einstein had a strong disdain for socks, because they would always get holes in them. -
Albert Einstein Bibliography
“Albert Einstein.” Atomic Heritage Foundation, 14 Mar. 1879, www.atomicheritage.org/profile/albert-einstein. “The Nobel Prize in Physics 1921.” NobelPrize.org, www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1921/einstein/biographical/. Kaku, Michio. “Albert Einstein.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 14 Apr. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Albert-Einstein. -
James Chadwick
James Chadwick was a British physicist who was born in Bollington, England in 1891 and lived in England until his death in Cambridge in 1873. His impact on the atom is his discovery of the neutron. After being in a prison internment camp during WW1, he became the head of the Manhatten Project with the UK, and the US, which was the project used to develop the first nuclear bomb. He studied with Rutherford, and they always believed that there were uncharged particles in the nucleus of every atom. -
James Chadwick Pt. 2
However, they never had the proof until they heard about an experiment done by Marie Curie's daughter Irene. The experiment that Irene did was use gamma rays to extract protons from a piece of wax. Chadwick was skeptical about the experiment and believed that neutrons were extracted since protons had too strong of a charge to be extracted with just gamma rays. So, he did his own experiment, and he studied the behavior of the supposed proton and determined that they were not protons but neutrons. -
James Chadwick Pt. 3
Chadwick at first thought that the neutrons were proton and electron pairs, but with the help of German scientist Werner Heisenberg, he realized he had discovered a new particle. In 1935, he won the Noble Prize in Physics, for his discovery of the atom. During his time as the head of the Manhatten Project, he lived in New Mexico under an alias for safety reasons. He witnessed the test of the first nuclear bomb. In 1945, he was knighted by the Queen of England for his discovery. -
James Chadwick Bibliography
“Home.” Famous Scientists, www.famousscientists.
org/james-chadwick/. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/
1935/chadwick/biographical/ “James Chadwick.” Atomic Heritage Foundation,
20 Oct. 1891, www.atomicheritage.org/profile/james-chadwick. -
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Heisenberg found his information, by measuring an electron’s properties by hitting it with a gamma ray would alter its behavior and that you could measure the position of an electron as well as its momentum. Heisenberg was captured by American Troops in WW2 and sent to England. He also won the Noble Prize in 1932 for his work on the uncertainty theory. He died in 1976, due to kidney cancer. -
Werner Heisenberg Bibliography
“Werner Heisenberg.” Atomic Heritage Foundation, 5 Dec. 1901, www.atomicheritage.org/profile/werner-heisenberg. “Werner Heisenberg Facts.” Math, www.softschools.com/facts/scientists/werner_heisenberg_facts/2015/. -
Louis de Broglie
Louis de Broglie was a French physicist, who was born in 1892 in Dieppe France and studied in France until his death in 1987. His contribution to the atomic theory was on matter waves. His proposal was that the electron must move around a nucleus and that, there are restrictions on its motion. De Broglie’s idea of an electron with the properties of a wave offered an explanation of the restricted motion. -
Louis de Broglie Pt. 2
A wave confined within boundaries imposed by the nuclear charge would be restricted in shape. So, any wave shape that did not fit within the atomic boundaries would interfere with itself and be canceled out. He proved this information by using the pilot-wave model. This model was developed by Broglie, and some help with Einstein, and it shows that matter moves in waves and that it is dependent on different particles. -
Louis de Broglie Pt. 3
Broglie wasn't always into science and earned a degree in Mathematics and History before he earned a degree in physics. He won't the Noble Prize in Physics in 1929 for his work on matter waves. In 1938, he was awarded the Max Planck medal, which is given to a physicist who has founded the greatest discovery in that year. He was also knighted in 1961. -
Werner Heisenberg Pt. 2
Werner Heisenberg is a German physicist who was born in December of 1901 in Wurtsburg, Germany and experimented in Germany until his death in February of 1976. He is best known for the uncertainty principle. that the position and the velocity of an object cannot both be measured exactly, at the same time, even in theory. The very concepts of exact position and exact velocity together, in fact, have no meaning in nature. -
Louis de Broglie Bibliography
“The Nobel Prize in Physics 1929.” NobelPrize.org, www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/
1929/broglie/biographical/. “Home.” Famous Scientists, www.
famousscientists.org/louis-de-broglie/. Cline, Barbara Lovett. “Louis De Broglie.”
Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica
, Inc., 15 Mar. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography
/Louis-de-Broglie. -
Erwin Schrödinger
Erwin Schrödinger is an Austrian physicist who was born in August of 1887 in Vienna, Austria and studied there during his time in Vienna, Austria until his death in January of 1961. Schrödinger used mathematical equations to describe the likelihood of finding an electron in a certain position. This atomic model is known as the quantum mechanical model of the atom. This model was like the Bohr model except this one predicts the location of the atom. -
Erwin Schrödinger Pt. 3
Erwin Schrodinger was a very bright student and earned his Ph.D. at the age of 23. He did some of his best work when he was recovering from tuberculosis in a sanitorium. He has a crater on the moon named after him for winning the Max Plack award. Finally, he won the Noble Prize in 1937. -
Erwin Schrödinger Pt. 2
This model can be portrayed as a nucleus surrounded by an electron cloud. Where the cloud is most dense, the probability of finding the electron is greatest, and conversely, the electron is less likely to be in a less dense area of the cloud. Therefore, this model introduced the concept of sub-energy levels. Schrodinger found this, by using the Bohr model, but made it a three-dimensional model, instead of just a one-dimensional model. -
Erwin Schrödinger Bibliography
Development of the Atomic Theory, www.abcte.org/files/previews/chemistry/s1_p6.html. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Erwin-Schrodinger
