Describe the thomson model of an atom?
Thomson’s Theory of an Atom
In 1897, a British physicist, J. J. Thomson did a series of experiments, the conclusions of which led to a new atomic theory.
Thomson proposed a model of the atom that was like a watermelon.
- In a watermelon there is a red edible part in which black seeds are embedded.
- Thomson said that the atom is a spherical mass like the red part of the watermelon. This is the positively charged part of the atom.
- He further compared the seeds embedded in the red part to negatively charged particles, which he called electrons.
- He proposed that the positive and negative charges are equal in magnitude and so the atom as a whole is neutral.
- The greatest contribution made by Thomson was the experimental proof for the existence of electrons, the negatively charged particles in the atom. For this discovery of electrons, Thomson was awarded the Nobel Prize in the year 1906.
- But, his model could not explain the results of experiments carried out by other scientists like Rutherford and Bohr.