Section 1.2 PG 12
Section 1.2 PG 12
Section 1.2 PG 12
Such an
instrument helps modern scientistsprobe inside tiny particles
of matter by splitting them apart. Using this tool, scientistscan
evencreatenew particlesthat do not existin nature. Work of this
kind is basedon modern theories that explain the composition
of matter. These theories, in turn, are rooted in the work and
the ideasof scientistsfrom centuries ago. These scientistsused
techniquesand tools that are "low-tech" by today'sstandards.
Even so, early chemistsdevisedatomic therories that are still
useful today.
Early Observations
During the 1600sand 1700s,scientistsimproved laboratory
techniquesfor isolating pure substancesand analyzing their
properties.The scientistsgathereda great deal of information
about specific substancesand the ways that they interact.
In somecases,scientistsobservedan action or condition so
consistentlythat they were convincedit would alwayshappen.
When scientistsare convinced of the regularity of certain
observations,they generalizetheir observationsas scientific laws. Severalof
fast-movingparticlesinto a target
theseearly laws could be explainedby the hypothesisthat matter is made up
surroundedby sensitivedetectors.
of tiny particles.In this section,you will discoverhow that hypothesisdeveloped
to becomemodern atomic theory.
Find Out
Develop a Theory
As you are discovering, scientists developed 4. Seal your box, and exchange boxes with
theories about the structure of the atom without your partner.
ever seeing the atom. They used models to
5. Perform simple tests to determine what is
represent their theories visually. In this activity,
inside your partner's box. You may not open
you will construct a mystery box and develop
the box. Make a table like the one below to
your own model to show what is inside it. Then
record the tests you performed and what you
you will challenge a partner to collect evidence
can infer about the internal structure of the
and develop a theory about what is inside.
box. Give your table a title.
Materials
cardboard box, the size of a shoe box
objects to place inside box
adhesive tape
thin, stiff wire
6. Put your inferences together to develop a
theory of the internal structure of the box.
Then draw a model of the inside of the box.
1. Design a mystery box. Keep in mind that:
. a simple but creative mystery box is better
than one that is too complicated
. your box may not contain any liquid that 1. Compare your model with your partner's.
How similar are they? Which inferences could
could spill or any substance that could
account for the differences between them?
decompose, such as food
. your design must allow for simple tests or 2. Which test yielded the most useful evidence?
experiments, such as probing with a thin
wire or shaking 3. Having seen your partner's model of his or
her box, what test did you not carry out that
2. Construct your box. You can might have yielded useful results?
. put in one or two objects that can move
and make noise when the box is tilted 4. Suppose you are granted access to an X-ray
. tape a few objects to the inside of your box machine to conduct further tests on the box.
What are your hypotheses for the X-ray
3. Draw a model of the inside of your box. Your machine experiment? What predictions
model must be based on the inferences you will you make before you begin?
think your partner can make about it. Do not
show your model to your partner.
~
14 MHR . Unit 1 Energy and Matter in Chemical Change
DidYouKnow?, Electrons and the Atom
Thomsonis sometimescalled .- I Electrons were much lessmassivethan atoms. Electrons also appearedto be
"the father of the electron." I present in all samplesof matter. These discoveriessuggestedto scientistslike
Whenhe publishedhis resultsin
1897,however,he referredto the
J.J.Thomson that every atom contained electrons.Electrons are negatively
cathoderay particlesas corpus- charged,however,and samplesof matter normally have no overall charge.
cles. It was not Thomson,but Therefore, eachatom would also have to contain a sourceof positive charge.
anotherscientist,G. Johnstone Yet, it wasnot clearwhere the positive chargewas.Thomson at first supported
Stoney,who inventedthe name
"electron"in 1891to describe a model first suggestedin 1902 by another English physicist with the same
a unit of chargein electrolysis last name.This personwasWilliam Thomson, better known asLord Kelvin
experiments.A third scientist, (1824-1907). According to Kelvin's model, atoms consistedof electrons
GeorgeFitzgerald,arguedthat
embeddedin a spherical cloud of positive charge.
this electronandThomson's
corpusclewere reallythe Figure 1.11showsa diagramrepresenting the Kelvin/Thomson model.
samething. This model eventually becameknown simply as the Thomson model.
~ electrons
The electrons in this model are like raisins in a plum pudding or raisin'bun.
, DidYouKnow?, Thus, Thomson's theory has been called the "plum-pudding" or "raisin-bun"
ErnestRutherford wonthe1908
NobelPrizein Chemistry for theory. This model (also called the Thomson atom) could not account for
findingthatradioactive elements a phenomenon that Thomson himself was studying. Radioactiveelements
actuallygaveoff threedifferent had only recently beenisolatedin pure form. They appearedto be constantly
typesof emissions. These
emissions arenowcalled emitting fast-moving,positively chargedparticles.These particlesare called
alphaparticles,electrons, and alphaparticlesand haveabout 7200times the massof an electron.The Thomson
gammarays.Hestudiedwith atom containednothing similar to alphaparticles,and gaveno cluesabout how
J. J. Thomson at Cambridge,
thentaughtat McGillUniversity they might be formed.
in Montreal from1898until
1907.Thenhereturned to Rutherford's Experiment
England to develophisown
research laboratoryat the In 1909,New'Zealand-born physicistErnest Rutherford (1871-1937)designed
University of Manchester. an elegantexperimentto probe the structure of atoms.As shown in Figure 1.12
on the next page,Rutherford's apparatusdirected a stream of alpha particles
from a shielded sampleof radioactive polonium toward a very thin gold foil.
Collisions with gold atoms, or pans of gold atoms, in the foil were expected
to causethe alpha particles to changedirection slightly and hit different parts
of a fluorescentscreenplacednear the foil. Rutherford observedthis deflection.
He observedsomethingelse,aswell. A small number of alphaparticlesbounced
backfrom the gold foil. Rutherford did not expectthis result.
1. polonium source /
(emits alpha particles) /
/
/
2. fluorescent screen
(lights up when struck 3. very thin
by an alpha particle) gold foil 4. most alpha
particles
went straight
through the foil
Rutherfordrealizedthat alphaparticles,muchmoremassivethanelectrons,would
not besignificantlydeflectedwhentheypassedby,or evencollidedwith, electronsin the gold pidYouKnow?
In 1904,a Japanese
scientist
foil. "Clouds"of positivecharge,as proposedin the Thomsonmodel,couldcauseslightchanges calledHantaro Nagaoka proposed
of direction.Rutherfordreasoned, however,that the alphaparticleswouldinteractwith many anatomicmodelthatwassimilar
atomson theirwaythroughthe foil. Thus,the effectsof manyrandomdeflectionswouldtend to Rutherford's.Nagaoka's
model
to canceloneanother,andthe overalldeflectionwouldnot beverygreat. described a disk-shaped
atom
withnegatively chargedatoms
orbitinga positively
charged
Basedon his observations,Rutherford developeda new atomic theory. nucleus.WhenRutherford wrote
This theory included both electrons and positively-chargedparticles. The abouthisatomicmodelin 1911,
henotedthathisresultswould
theory also explainedthe surprising alpha particle rebounds that he had bethesameif Nagaoka's model
observed.You can follow Rutherford's logic by examining Figure 1.13. werecorrect.
.\
Bohr proposedthis new atomic theory in 1913.The theory fit very well
with observationsof light emitted from dischargetubes.It seemedreasonable
that electronsin atoms of different elementswould have different allowed
energylevels,and would therefore absorband emit light of different energies
(different colours).
The energy levels of electronsin an atom are the keyfeature of Bohr} theory. Bohr
showedhow to derivemathematicalequationsthat describedtheseenergylevels.
In Bohr'satom, The equationscould be solvedfor the hydrogen atom (the simplestatom) by
electronscanexistonlyat assumingthat electronsmoved in circular paths.As the electron absorbed
certainenergylevels. energy,the equation showedthat it could move farther from the positively
chargednucleus.Bohr calculatedthe averagedistanceof electronsin different
energylevelsfrom the nucleusof a hydrogen atom.
Table1.1 MaximumNumberof Atoms with more than one electron were too complex for Bohr to analyze
Electronsin FirstTwoEnergyLevels mathematically in the sameway as hydrogen. He did establish,however,that
atomswith two or more electronscould haveonly a certain number of electrons
in each energy level. This meant that atoms of each element would have a
characteristic arrangement of electrons in different energy levels.Table 1.1
showsthe maximum number of electrons that can occupy the first two
energy levels.
approximately 10-14 m
B nucleus
An averageatom is about 10-10 m in diameter. Such a tiny size is hard to
visualize. If an averageatom were the size of a grain of sand,a strand of
~ Thisillustration
your hair would be about 60 m in diameter!
showsa simplifiedmodernmodel
of an atom.Noticethat a fuzzy,
cloud-likeregionsurroundsthe Nuclear Notation
atomicnucleus.Electronsexist As you havelearned,elementsoften havetwo or more isotopes.In other words,
in this regionat certainallowed atoms of a given element alwayshave the samenumber of protons, but may
energylevels.
have differing numbers of neutrons.
How do scientistskeep track of the number of protons and neutrons in an
atom?The compositionof an atom is often representedusingjust two numbers.
The atomic number is the number of protons in the nucleus,which identifies
the element. The mass number is the total number of protons and neutrons.
Along with the atomic number, the massnumber identifies a particular isotope
of the element. Figure 1.21 showshow to use thesenumbers.
6 protons 6 protons
/7 neutrons /8 neutrons
13C
6 14C
6
carbon-13 carbon-14
Scientistsrepresentisotopesusingelementsymbolsandby addingthe mass
numberto an elementname.Theseexamplesshowhowto representisotopesof carbonand
hydrogen.Hydrogen-2andhydrogen-3aremorecommonlyknownas deuteriumandtritium.