There are five scientists who helped shape not only atomic theory but also our perspective of the atom. Dalton, Bohr, Rutherford, Planck, and Millikan, each of these scientists contributed to atomic theory in their own way and enhanced our knowledge of the atom.
John Dalton is known for his work of gas laws (i.e. Dalton’s law) but also his work to lay the ground work for atomic theory. In the year 1800 Dalton presented a paper which was on the constitution of mixed gasses. This would lead him to develop his gas law and also affect others, such as Charles and Gay-Lussac. This research would also lead him to research atomic weights, which lead to his contribution in 1805. Dalton theorized that elements are made of extremely small particles called atoms. Atoms of a given element are identical in size, mass, and other properties; atoms of different elements differ in size, mass and other properties. Atoms cannot be subdivided, created, or destroyed. Atoms of different elements combine in simple whole-number ratios to form chemical compounds. In chemical reactions, atoms are …show more content…
In 1913 Bohr proposed a hydrogen-atom model that linked the atoms electron to photon emissions. He also concluded that electrons orbit the nucleus of the atom; this dictates the energy level of the atom. Also in the orbit the electron does not gain or lose energy, but the electron can move between energy levels and photon energy id the difference between those levels. This explained the hydrogen emission- line spectrum, which is when a narrow beam of emitted light of hydrogen, with an electrical current, was shined through a prism and produced four colors of the visible light spectrum. (Some where infrared and others where ultraviolet) However with all of this information Bohr’s theory still lacked to explain the spectra of atoms with more than one electron, or the chemical behavior of