Atomic Models Review

Flashcards covering major historical atomic models from Dalton to Schrödinger.

What is John Dalton's atomic model commonly called and what does it propose about matter?

Dalton's model is the billiard ball (solid sphere) model. It proposes that matter is made of indivisible particles called atoms; all atoms of a given element are identical in mass and properties, while atoms of different elements have different masses.

What did Thomson's plum pudding model propose about the structure of the atom?

Atoms consist of a positively charged substance with negatively charged electrons embedded within it (a positively charged 'soup' surrounding electrons).

What did Rutherford's Gold Foil experiment reveal about the atom?

The atom is mostly empty space, with a tiny dense positively charged nucleus at the center where most of the atom's mass is concentrated.

What is the key feature of Bohr's atomic model?

Electrons orbit the nucleus in fixed energy levels with quantized energy (orbitals).

What does Schrödinger's atomic model describe about electrons?

A quantum mechanical (electron cloud) model where electrons are described as matter waves with a probability of being found in regions around the nucleus, not fixed orbits.