A table of the chemical elements arranged in order of atomic number, usually in rows, so that elements with similar atomic structure (and hence similar chemical properties) appear in vertical columns.1 The periodic table shows all know elements which total to over 100. The discovery of the periodic table was the greatest achievement in modern science of today and opened many new chapters in the science world as we know it today.
Although the periodic table wasn’t formed until 1869 many studies were made previously into the structure of the atom. In 350 BC, Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, had a theory that all matter was made up of the elements; earth, fire, air and water.7 It was a belief of his that the lighter objects had less earth than the heaver ones. Democritus made studies soon after Aristotle’s statements about the behavior of atoms. Democritus believed that “The universe is composed of two elements: the atoms and the void in which they exist and move.” 6. Democritus proposed five key ideas about the way atoms move and exist.
All matter consists of minuscule particles called atoms.
Atoms are indestructible
Atoms are solid but cannot be seen with the naked eye
All atoms are alike
Atoms differ in size, shape, mass, position, and arrangement.6
Although Democritus gave the atoms certains features, his model of the atom did not cotain any protons, neutrons or electrons.
Democritus made major contributions to science and this gave him the title of “The father of modern science and atomic theory” 4,5
During this time very few elements were know such as gold, silver and copper.
Hundreds of years later in 1649, Hennig Brand discovered a new element, phosphorus. This was found as he was using distilled human urine to cr...
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...oticed that the particles were not deflected by either electric of magnetic fields. The name “neutron” comes from an unoriginal naming because the particle was neutral. Chadwick than went on to further discover how to find neutrons weight (subtracting the atomic mass by the atomic number).
Throughout the history of the scientific time line, many exclusive scientists, philosopher’s and chemists all contributed to the rich and vast history of the periodic table and atom. This helps the little takers in today society trying to understand the atomic theory or learn the first 20 elements. Without these contributions, over 100 elements, might have never been found, nor would the structure of the atom exist. Hopefully we have another bright and ambitious young scruff who continues the legacy of the atomic theory, discovery of elements and creation of the periodic table.
Attempts to organize the elements began in the late 1800’s. At this time, about sixty elements were known. Much advancement would have been impossible if the basic model of the atom was discovered. Great progress came from Dmitri Medeleev – a Russian chemist. His first draft of a periodic table was only the product of him attempting to summarize his knowledge of the elements. Although not all of Medeleev’s ideas were one-hundred percent accurate, they created a solid base to build upon. Marie and Pierre Curie; a married couple from Paris were successors of Medeleev. Their interests were radioactivity and discovered radium. The true pioneers of the periodic table were Ernest Rutherford and James Chadwick. Rutherford formed the hypothesis that, “An atom must have a concentrated positive center charge that contains most of the atom’s mass.” Following Rutherford, Chadwick exposed a segment of the nucleus that was had no charge: the neutron. With the basic knowledge of the structure of an atom, the tedious work of putting the rest of the puzzle together continued.
Dalton’s atomic theory, which stated “the atoms were tiny, indivisible, indestructible particles” (Bender), differed drastically from that of the Greeks’ in that it “wasn’t just a philosophical statement that there are atoms because there must be atoms” (Bender). Although Aristotle believed that there are four terrestrial elements, earth, water, air, and fire, Democratus believed that “a piece of a substance can be divided into smaller pieces of that substance until we get down to a fundamental level at which you can’t divide the substance up and still have pieces of that substance” (“Atoms”). Aristotle’s theory was popular, but incorrect; Democratus’s was closer to our current theory, yet he remained relatively unpopular and obscure. This demonstrates of the key way in which a personal point of view can, in fact, retard the pursuit of knowledge. The scientist with the better oratory abilities has his theories more widely accepted. Dalton’s own theory, which extrapolated upon four basic
Although atomism certainly was not a new philosophy by the time Lucretius wrote, or even by the time of Rome’s ascension to power, the original propositions regarding the nature of matter were not enough to construct a philosophy similar to that presented by Lucretius. Over time, atomism had evolved from a binary view that the world consisted solely of atoms and void, ...
In the Letter to Herodotus, Epicurus gives a general account of Epicurean atomism. Of particular interest is its take on the nature of matter. The universe is made up of bodies and void.
In 1801 he argued that the atmosphere was filled with mechanical gases and that the chemical reactions between the nitrogen and oxygen played no part in the atmosphere?s construction. To prove this he conducted a lot of experiments on the solubility of gases in water. This showed that dissolved gases were mechanically mixed with the water and weren?t mixed naturally. But in 1803 it was found that this depended on the weight of the individual particles of the gas or atoms. By assuming the particles were the same size Dalton was able to develop the idea of atomic weights.
The understanding that matter was composed of atoms was changed with the discovery of smaller particles than the atoms, which are protons, neutrons, and electrons. But during the 1960’s, the multitude of particles being discovered was making the understanding that matter is composed of protons, neutrons, and electrons, insufficient. Murray Ge...
The next big step in the discovery of the atom was the scientific test that proved the existence of the atom. After the discovery of the atom we had the discovery of subatomic particles. With the discovery of the subatomic particles came the research, which came from experiments that were made to find out more about the subatomic particles. This research is how we uncovered that most of the weight of an atom is from its nucleus. With the gold foil experiment, tested by Ernest Rutherford, he discovered the existence of the positively charged nucleus. He proved this when the experiment was happening, a small fraction of the photons th...
Rutherford’s model is not the model we use now, as neutrons are still missing, however the discovery of the nucleus has helped other scientists find the neutron. Under Rutherford’s leadership in 1932 James Chadwick discovered the neutron. This discovery lead to the model we use today, and would not have been possible without the discovery of the proton.
Even though he wasn’t as famous as Socrates or Plato, Democritus was one of the greatest Greek philosopher ever lived. His works might not be very reliable because none stayed in tact but they were a huge contribution to the development of philosophy, especially his atomic theory. His works made him known as the laughing philosopher and even as the father of modern sciences.
Late 1500s: Galileo Galilei, known as the “Father of Science,” was an Italian astronomer, physicist, mathematician, inventor, and philosopher and was responsible for the discovery that heavy objects do not fall to the ground any faster than lighter objects. Galileo determined that “the acceleration of a falling body, the parabolic trajectory of a projectile and the resistance of solids to fracture” (Swerdlow, 2011).
The Atomic Theory began in roughly 400BC with Democritus in Ancient Greece and is universally believed to be correct today. Democritus who was born in 460 BC and died 370 BC and is known as the father of modern science. Democritus proclaimed that everything is made up of atoms. He continued his theory to say that atoms will always be in motion, between atoms there is empty space, atoms are unbreakable, there are an infinite number of atoms all different sizes and shapes. He also said that iron atoms are solid and strong and have hooks to lock them together, water atoms are smooth and slippery, salt atoms have sharp jagged edges because of its taste and air atoms are light and spiralling.
Democritus, Dalton, Thompson, Millikan, and Rutherford, were few of the scientists who contributed to the development of the modern atomic theory. Each one of them developed a certain experiment to prove and demonstrate its way of seeing these tiny particles. They tested and proved each other’s theories, in order to create the modern atomic theory. During this investigation, the previous scientists will be researched and explained, with the purpose of understanding how did these theories overlap and improve.
Then both Meyer and Mendeleyev built periodic tables alone, Meyer more impressed by the periodicity of physical properties, while Mendeleyev was more interested in the chemical properties. Then Mendeleyev had published his periodic table and his law in 1869 and forecasted the properties of the missing elements, and chemists then began to be grateful for it when the discovery of elements was predicted by the table that had taken place. Although, periodic tables have always been related to the way scientists thought about the shape and structure of the atom, and has changed over the years exactly for that reason.
Many different scientists contributed to the atomic theory. Every single one of them played an important role in creating the atomic theory known today. Around 400 BCE Leucippus was the scientist who originally thought of the atomic theory. Democritus adopted the ideas of Leucippus, his mentor. Democritus soon developed the idea of an atom. Democritus believed everything was made up tiny particles of matter called atoms. He chose this name because in Greek atom means indivisible. After Democritus Isaac Newton was the next scientist to contribute to the atomic theory. Isaac Newton began to realize that atoms were constantly moving and not stationary. In 1803 John Dalton added to the atomic theory. Dalton’s atomic theory was composed of five
Scientists from earlier times helped influence the discoveries that lead to the development of atomic energy. In the late 1800’s, Dalton created the Atomic Theory which explains atoms, elements and compounds (Henderson 1). This was important to the study of and understanding of atoms to future scientists. The Atomic Theory was a list of scientific laws regarding atoms and their potential abilities. Roentagen, used Dalton’s findings and discovered x-rays which could pass through solid objects (Henderson 1). Although he did not discover radiation from the x-rays, he did help lay the foundations for electromagnetic waves. Shortly after Roentagen’s findings, J.J. Thompson discovered the electron which was responsible for defining the atom’s characteristics (Henderson 2). The electron helped scientists uncover why an atom responds to reactions the way it does and how it received its “personality”. Dalton’s, Roentagen’s and Thompson’s findings helped guide other scientists to discovering the uses of atomic energy and reactions. Such applications were discovered in the early 1900’s by using Einstein’s equation, which stated that if a chain reaction occurred, cheap, reliable energy could b...