RUTHERFORD ATOMIC

MODEL
Rutherford atomic model, description of the structure of atoms proposed (1911)
by the New Zealand-born physicist Ernest Rutherford. The model described
the atom as a tiny, dense, positively charged core called a nucleus, in which

nearly all the mass is concentrated, around which the light, negative constituents,
called electrons, circulate at some distance, much like planets revolving around
the Sun. The Rutherford atomic model has been alternatively called the nuclear
atom, or the planetary model of the atom.

The nucleus was postulated as small and dense to account for the scattering of
alpha particles from thin gold foil, as observed in a series of experiments
performed under Rutherfords direction in 191011.
THE GOLD FOIL EXPERIMENT
The diagram shows a simplified plan of his gold foil experiment. A radioactive

source capable of emitting alpha particles (i.e., positively charged particles more
than 7,000 times as massive as electrons) was enclosed within a protective lead

shield. The radiation was focused into a narrow beam after passing through a slit
in a lead screen. A thin section of gold foil was placed in front of the slit, and a
screen coated with zinc sulfide to render it fluorescent served as a counter to

detect alpha particles. As each alpha particle struck the fluorescent screen, it

would produce a burst of light called a scintillation, which was visible through a
viewing microscope attached to the back of the screen. The screen itself was

movable, allowing Rutherford and his associates to determine whether or not any
alpha particles were being deflected by the gold foil.

Most alpha particles were observed to pass straight through the gold foil, which
implied that atoms are composed of large amounts of open space. Some alpha
particles were deflected slightly, suggesting interactions with other positively

charged particles within the atom. Still other alpha particles were scattered at
large angles, while a very few even bounced back toward the source. Only a
positively charged and relatively heavy target particle, such as the proposed

nucleus, could account for such strong repulsion. The negative electrons that

balanced electrically the positive nuclear charge were regarded as traveling in

circular orbits about the nucleus. The electrostatic force of attraction between

electrons and nucleus was likened to the gravitational force of attraction between
the revolving planets and the Sun. Most of this planetary atom was open space
and offered no resistance to the passage of the alpha particles. The Rutherford
model, based wholly on classicalphysics, was superseded in a few years by
the Bohr atomic model, which incorporated some early quantum theory.

Rutherford's atomic model is the most well-known of the various atomic model
ideas, and is the most commonly taught in schools. Before the discovery of his
model, the most common atomic model was the Plum Pudding model, which
stated that an atom was composed of two main parts: A large, positively charged
nucleus (The 'pudding'), and many small, negatively charged 'plums' that were
randomly spread throughout the positive nucleus. The Pudding model was basic
and helped people to understand why an atom had no positive or negative charge
(Because the positive and negative parts balanced each other out).

THOMSONS MODEL OF
AN ATOM
(Plum pudding model)

The plum pudding model, also known as the blueberry muffin model, of

the atom by J. J. Thomson, who discovered the electronin 1897, was proposed in
1904 before the discovery of the atomic nucleus in order to add the electron to
the atomic model. In this model, the atom is composed of electrons (which

Thomson still called "corpuscles", though G. J. Stoney had proposed that atoms of

electricity be called electrons in 1894[1]) surrounded by a soup of positive charge

to balance the electrons' negative charges, like negatively charged "raisins"

surrounded by positively charged "pudding". The electrons (as we know them

today) were thought to be positioned throughout the atom, but with many

structures possible for positioning multiple electrons, particularly rotating rings

of electrons (see below). Instead of a soup, the atom was also sometimes said to
have had a "cloud" of positive charge.

With this model, Thomson abandoned his earlier "nebular atom" hypothesis in

which the atom was composed of immaterial vortices. Now, at least part of the

atom was to be composed of Thomson's particulate negative corpuscles, although

the rest of the positively charged part of the atom remained somewhat nebulous
and ill-defined.

BOHRS MODEL OF AN
ATOM
In atomic physics, the RutherfordBohr model or Bohr model, introduced by Niels
Bohr in 1913, depicts the atom as a small, positively charged nucleus surrounded
by electrons that travel in circular orbits around the nucleussimilar in

structure to the solar system, but with attraction provided by electrostatic

forces rather than gravity. After the cubic model(1902), the plum-pudding
model (1904), the Saturnian model (1904), and the Rutherford model (1911)
came theRutherfordBohr model or just Bohr model for short (1913). The
improvement to the Rutherford model is mostly a quantum physical

interpretation of it. The Bohr model has been superseded, but the quantum theory
remains sound.

The model's key success lay in explaining the Rydberg formula for the

spectral emission lines of atomic hydrogen. While the Rydberg formula had been

known experimentally, it did not gain a theoretical underpinning until the Bohr
model was introduced. Not only did the Bohr model explain the reason for the

structure of the Rydberg formula, it also provided a justification for its empirical
results in terms of fundamental physical constants.

The Bohr model is a relatively primitive model of the hydrogen atom, compared
to the valence shell atom. As a theory, it can be derived as a first-order

approximation of the hydrogen atom using the broader and much more
accurate quantum mechanics, and thus may be considered to be an obsolete

scientific theory. However, because of its simplicity, and its correct results for

selected systems (see below for application), the Bohr model is still commonly

taught to introduce students to quantum mechanics or energy level diagrams,

before moving on to the more accurate, but more complex, valence shell atom. A
related model was originally proposed by Arthur Erich Haas in 1910, but was
rejected. The quantum theory of the period between Planck's discovery of the

quantum (1900) and the advent of a full-blown quantum mechanics (1925) is

often referred to as the old quantum theory.