CHAPTER 4 :

ATOMIC STRUCTURE &

ENERGY LEVELS IN AN ATOM
Thompson’s Model
In Thomson’s model, the
atom is composed of
electrons surrounded by a
soup of positive charge to
balance the electrons’
negative charges, like
negatively charged “plums”
surrounded by positively
charged “pudding”.
RUTHERFORD’S MODEL
 Earnest Rutherford (1911) and his
students Hans Geiger and Earnest
Marsden performed a critical
experiment showing that
Thompson’s model could not be
correct.
 “GOLD FOIL EXPERIMENT”
RUTHERFORD’S
EXPERIMENT
 In this experiment, high energy
α-particles from a radioactive
source were directed at a thin foil
(about 100nm thickness) of gold.
A circular, fluorescent zinc sulfide
screen was present around the
thin gold foil. A tiny flash of light
was produced at a point on the
screen whenever α-particles
struck it.
 OBSERVATIONS :

Based on Thomson’s model, the mass of every atom in the gold foil should be evenly
spread over the entire atom. Therefore, when α-particles hit the foil, it is expected that
they would slow down and change directions only by small angles as they pass through
the foil. However, the results from Rutherford’s experiment were unexpected

 Most of the α-particles passed undeflected through the foil.

 A small number of α-particles were deflected by small angles.
 Very few α-particles (about 1 in 20,000) bounced back.
Based on the above results, Rutherford made the
following conclusions about the structure of the atom:

 Since most of the α-particles passed through the foil undeflected,

most of the space in the atom is empty.
 The deflection of a few positively charged α-particles must be
due to the enormous repulsive force. This suggests that the
positive charge is not uniformly spread throughout the atom as
Thomson had proposed. The positive charge has to be
concentrated in a very small volume to deflect the positively
charged α-particles.
 RUTHERFORD’S PLANATERY MODEL OF
ATOM
• Most of the mass of the atom and the
positive charge is densely concentrated
in a very small region in the atom.
Rutherford called this region
the nucleus.

• Electrons surround the nucleus and

move around it at very high speeds in
circular paths called orbits. This
arrangement also resembles the solar
system, where the nucleus forms the sun
and the electrons are the revolving
planets. Therefore, it is also referred to
as the Planetary Model.
 Bohr Model of Hydrogen Atom
 Neils Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made
foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure
and quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in
Physics in 1922.
 Neil Bohr proposed the Bohr Model of the Atom in 1915.
 Because the Bohr Model is a modification of the earlier
Rutherford Model, some people call Bohr’s Model the
Rutherford-Bohr Model.
 The modern model of the atom is based on quantum
mechanics
An atom emits photon when its energy change
From E2 to E1
hf= E2 – E1
Angular momentum, L was quantized
L = mvr = , n = 1,2,3
r = radius of orbit
h = Plank’s constant

BOHR’S POSTULATE
Electrons move about the nucleus in circular orbits but
only certain orbits are allowed.
An electron in each orbit would have a definite energy
and move in the orbit without radiating energy.
Light is emitted only when an electron jumps from a
higher(upper) stationary state to lower energy and
energy is conserved.
Electron’s angular momentum, l is quantized and equal
to the
 CONCEPT OF EXCITATION & IONIZATION

Atoms can make transitions between the orbits allowed by quantum

mechanics by ABSORBING or EMITTING exactly the energy difference
between the orbits.
 E∞

CONCEPT OF IONIZATION
 Definition : Gain or loss of electrons and acquire a net electrical
charge

Ionization energy
The minimum energy required to remove an electron from the ground
state of an atom.

Formula for Ionization Energy = E∞ - Eground state /excited state

FACTORS AFFECTING THE SIZE OF IONIZATION
ENERGY

1.The charge on the nucleus

2.The distance of the electron on the
nucleus
3.The number of electrons between the
outer electrons and the nucleus