aToMic ThEorY

In chemistry and physics, atomic theory is a theory of the nature of matter, which states that matter is composed of discrete units called atoms, as opposed to the obsolete notion that matter could be divided into any arbitrarily small quantity. It began as a philosophical concept in ancient Greece and India and entered the scientific mainstream in the early 19th century when discoveries in the field of chemistry showed that matter did indeed behave as if it were made up of particles.The name "atom" from the Greek word atomos, which means "indivisible" was attributed to the basic particle that constituted a chemical element, because the chemists of the era believed that these were the fundamental particles of matter. However, around the turn of the 20th century, through various experiments with electromagnetism and radioactivity, physicists discovered that the so-called "indivisible atom" was actually a conglomerate of various subatomic particles chiefly, electrons, protons and neutrons which can exist separately from each other. In fact, in certain extreme environments such as neutron stars, extreme temperature and pressure prevents atoms from existing at all. The field of science which studies subatomic particles is particle physic, and it is in this field that physicists hope to discover the true fundamental nature of matter.

By 1911 the components of the atom had been discovered. The atom consisted of subatomic particles called protons and electrons. However, it was not clear how these protons and electrons were arranged within the atom. J.J. Thomson suggested the"plum pudding" model. In this model the electrons and protons are uniformly mixed throughout the atom Rutherford tested Thomson's hypothesis by devising his "gold foil" experiment. Rutherford reasoned that if Thomson's model was correct then the mass of the atom was spread out throughout the atom. Then, if he shot high velocity alpha particles (helium nuclei) at an atom then there would be very little to deflect the alpha particles. He decided to test this with a thin film of gold atoms. As expected, most alpha particles went right through the gold foil but to his amazement a few alpha particles rebounded almost directly backwards.