history of the atom notes

Notes on the history of the atom
In 1897 the British physicist Joseph John (J. J.) Thomson (1856–1940) discovered the electron in a series of experiments designed to study the nature of electric discharge in a high-vacuum cathode-ray tube, an area being investigated by numerous scientists at the time. Thomson interpreted the deflection of the rays by electrically charged plates and magnets as evidence of &quotbodies much smaller than atoms&quot that he calculated as having a very large value for the charge-to-mass ratio. Later he estimated the value of the charge itself.
In 1904 Thomson suggested a model of the atom as a sphere of positive matter in which electrons are positioned by electrostatic forces. His efforts to estimate the number of electrons in an atom from measurements of the scattering of light, X, beta, and gamma rays initiated the research trajectory along which his student Ernest Rutherford moved. Thomson's last important experimental program focused on determining the nature of positively charged particles. Here his techniques led to the development of the mass spectrograph. His assistant, Francis Aston, developed Thomson's instrument further and with the improved version was able to discover isotopes—atoms of the same element with different atomic weights—in a large number of nonradioactive elements. HYPERLINK "http://www.lz95.org/assets/1/17/History_of_the_Atom_Project.pdf" \l "page=1" \o "Page 1" HYPERLINK "http://www.lz95.org/assets/1/17/History_of_the_Atom_Project.pdf" \l "page=2" \o "Page 2" HYPERLINK "http://www.lz95.org/assets/1/17/History_of_the_Atom_Project.pdf" \l "page=3" \o "Page 3" HYPERLINK "http://www.lz95.org/assets/1/17/History_of_the_Atom_Project.pdf" \l "page=4" \o "Page 4"

DUE DATE: _____________ Name: _________________________
History of the Atom Project
The atomic theory of matter is an excellent illustration of the process of science. Our understanding of the world around us is reshaped and refined with each scientific experiment. The first recorded idea of the atom comes from the ancient
Greeks in the 4
00’s B.C. Over the millennia, scientific experimentation has added to our knowledge of the atom, redefining what it is and what its structure is like. In this project, your goal will be to learn about some of the highlight s in the history of atomic theory to gain an appreciation of how we know what we know about atoms.
Step one of this process involves research. Listed below are 14 scientists who all contributed to our current understanding of the atom. You need to find out who these people were and what they contributed to atomic theory.
Democritus
Antoine Lavoisier
John Dalton
J. J. Thomson
Ernest Rutherford
Robert Millikan
Marie Curie
James Chadwick
Max Planck
Albert Einstein
Niels Bohr
Louis De Broglie
Erwin Schrodinger
Werner
HeisenbergQuestions to answer in your research
1) When did they live? Where did they live?
2) What new information did they contribute to the understanding of the atom?
3) How did they find this new information? (What experiments did they do?)
4) Interesting facts
–
other accomplishments, personal information, famous historical events at the time,etc.
Cite Your Sources!
You must hand in a bibliography with your project. This must be in proper works cited/bibliography format. (See the example shown below.) There are lots of websites that can help you make a correctly formatted citation. One good one is http://www.easybib.com/
Sample Citation (for an online source):
"A Science Odyssey: You Try It: Atom Builder."
PBS
. PBS, 1998. Web. 04 Nov. 2009
.
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/atom/>.
Research Tips
Some of these scientists did experiments not related to atomic theory as well. If you search on the web form information, you might include searches about history of atomic theory, or “Niels Bohr atomictheory” to help get less broad results. You can of course get good information by searching each name as well, but don’t forget to find out about contributions to atomic theory. Your textbook also has useful information about some of these scientist
s.
Here are a few useful websites to get things going. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/atom/ - scroll down to the bottom for links to scientists http://www.ausetute.com.au/atomichist.html http://chemistry.learnhub.com/lesson/3663
-
history- of- the- atomic- theory- i- ancient- timeshttp://chemistry.learnhub.com/lesson/3687 - history- of- the- atomic- theory- part-
3
http://www.visionlearning.com/library/module_viewer.php?mid=50
DUE DATE: _____________
Name: _________________________
Step 2 of this project is turning your research into an interesting an informative project. This is the part where you use the information, making sure to avoid plagiarism by putting things into your own words.
The type of project you will complete is called a RAFT (R = role, A = audience, F = Format, T = Topic).
You choose one horizontal row from the choices below to complete. If you don’t see any options that appeal to you, talk to your teacher about designing your own. (A self- designed option must be approved by your teacher.)
Role Audience Format Topic
Role
Audience
Format
Topic
Science Writer at the New
York Times
Reader of the New York
Times Science Section
Series of Newpaper Articles
The Ongoing discovery of the atom
Science Historian
Students studying atomic historyDetailed Timeline
Important Figures and
Events in the History of
Atomic Structure
Author
Students in your high school chemistry class
Graphic Novel
Adventures of 2 or more
Scientists listed above that includes their contribution to atomic development
Video
-
Game Developer
Head Game Developers of
Nintendo or Sony
Illustrated proposal for a new video game
(don’t forget to name your game)
A video game that will teach high school students about atomic theoryActors putting on a performance for the scientists at FermilabScientists in the research community who are currently doing research on subatomic particles
Role
-
Playing
You will take on the persona of at least two to the scientists who contributed to the development of the atom
Read the rubric carefully to understand what content needs to be included in your project and how your project will be graded.
Newspaper articles
–
You could write one article per scientist, but it might be better to write fewerarticles, each one focusing on a different time period. Make sure your writing is interesting; your reader shouldn’t want to put the newspaper down after the first few sentences. Make sure to use newspaper article format and be creative. (Read a science article perhaps for a better understanding of this.)
Timelines
–
Your timeline should be visually attractive and include pictures of each scientist as well as descriptions of their contributions to atomic theory. Organization and attractive layout a re key.
Graphic Novel
–
You should write an illustrated story
. Don’t forget a cover with the title of your novel
. Remember, you need to make a n interesting narrative that studentswould like to read that still includes all the required content.
Turn your research into a story!
Video Game Proposal
–
Imagine you have to pitch a new video game to Nintendo or Sony. This is the proposal you would bring with you. It should outline the type of game, the objective of the game, and describe how the game is played. It should include some illustrated frames of what the game will look like on screen. Be creative about how you can incorporate learning atomic theory into a game! Remember, your proposal should make Nintendo or Sony want to make and sell your game.
Role Playing
–
Take on the persona of the scientists
. You will give your performance to the scientists in our class. Be creative and fully take on the role of the scientists you have chosen. Limit the performance to 3
-
5 minutes and turn in a bibliography with the sources you used to research your scientist(s).