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The Structure of The Atom

Atoms are composed of sub-atomic particles: neutrons and protons form the nucleus, while electrons orbit around it. The overall electrical charge of an atom is neutral due to the equal positive and negative charges. Historical contributions from scientists like J.J. Thompson, Ernest Rutherford, and James Chadwick have shaped our understanding of atomic structure.

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22 views3 pages

The Structure of The Atom

Atoms are composed of sub-atomic particles: neutrons and protons form the nucleus, while electrons orbit around it. The overall electrical charge of an atom is neutral due to the equal positive and negative charges. Historical contributions from scientists like J.J. Thompson, Ernest Rutherford, and James Chadwick have shaped our understanding of atomic structure.

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lama agsam
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23/12/24 The Structure 

of the Atom
• We know that atoms are so small they can only be seen
through a specific microscope and that they cannot be split/
divided.
• Atoms are made up of even smaller particles, called
sub-atomic particles. They're arranged in a similar way in all
atoms. They are:
(a) Neutrons: together with protons, they form the nucleus of
the atom. They have the same mass. It has no electrical
charge.

(b) Protons: together with neutrons, they form the nucleus of
the atom. The protons and neutrons are grouped closely
together in the center of the atom. They have the same mass.
Protons have a positive electrical charge.

(c) Electrons: they move around the nucleus. Protons and
neutrons have much more mass than electrons; electrons
have almost no mass. Electrons have a negative electrical
charge.
• There is a lot of empty space between the different parts of
the atom. This space literally has nothing in it.
• The individual atoms are held together by the electrostatic
attraction between the positive charge on the protons and the
negative charge on the electrons. This is because postive
charges are attracted to negative charges and vice versa.
• The size of the postive charge on a proton and the size of the
negative charge on an electron is equal. This means that the
overall electrical charge of an atom is non-existent because
the charges cancel each other out.

• In the late 1890s J.J. Thompson discovered the electron. His


model for the atom was that the electrons were spread out
randomly throughout the atom that is a homogeneous clump of
positively charged matter.

• Ernest Rutherford, one of Thompson's students, discovered


the proton in 1909. He then discovered the neutron in 1911.
He conducted the gold foil experiment through which he
found that gold atoms are mostly empty space. This helped
progress the model of the atom closer to its true state.
• Rutherford's model of the atom included electrons scattered
randomly around a homogeneous nucleus with a positive
charge.

• James Chadwick worked with Rutherford and Thompson. He


discovered and proved the existence of the neutron in 1932.

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