Atoms Research Papers

Marjorie Mitalski

Period 1

To understand the world we live in, we need to know what it’s made of. Everything in the world is made out of atoms. Atoms are very small, too small to see with the naked eye. Since we can’t see them, it’s very hard to study them. There have been many models created to try and understand atoms. The original model for atoms was created by Dalton who guessed that atoms were indivisible particles that looked like small billiard balls. Now we know that atoms are much more complicated. Through the advancement of technology we have a better understanding of atoms and how our world works. In 1897, a scientist named J.J. Thomson discovered that atoms were made of even smaller, negatively charged pieces called electrons.

In 1911 Ernest Rutherford and his team directed a beam of positively charged particles at a thin sheet of gold foil. If Thomson’s model was correct, the beam would pass through the foil. The team predicted that some of the beams of particles would bend, but not drastically. This was because scientists believed that positive charges were spread out in gold atoms.When they conducted the experiment, most particles passed through the sheet, but some particles were deflected, and bounced right back. Rutherford concluded that the atom is mostly empty space, but at its center was a nucleus with particles of a positive charge. He called these particles

Even today we know that the atom has neutrally charged neutrons in the nucleus to keep the protons from repelling each other and that protons. In addition, neutrons and protons are made up of even smaller particles called quarks. Better microscopes and particle rays have advanced our knowledge on atoms tremendously. I am very impressed with Thomson’s model. He discovered electrons even without high tech gadgets. Everyday technology is becoming more and more advanced and available to us. It is very likely we will learn new information in the coming years and the model may even change again