The Physics Of Atomic Theory - 1142 Words

Science would not be where it is today if not for those who have devoted a great deal of their life to making new discoveries and figuring different aspects of the universe. Over 30 different scientists have added on the development of atomic theory, and made science changing discoveries that are still today quite impressive, even in comparison to modern day scientists. There are countless scientists involved in the evolution of atomic theory, but less than 50 have majorly impacted the way we view atomic theory today. Discovery and experimentation on the atom first began in the Greek Era with scientists as old as Democritus and Aristotle. Democritus was believed to be the first person to touch on the atomic theory. He stated that he†¦show more content†¦He also published a table of atomic weights. In 1869, Dmitri Mendeleev created one of the most important tables in the history atomic development. He arranged the atoms into 7 groups with similar properties, and published his first periodic table of elements. Not only did it organize things tremendously, but also allowed Mendeleev to predict new elements. After him in 1873, came James Clerk Maxwell who proposed that electric and magnetic fields filled the void. Six years later in 1879, Sir William Crookes made an enormous discovery... He studies the effects of sending and electric current through a gas in a sealed tube. This electrode was called a cathode and the particles were cathode rays. He discovered that cathode rays travel in strai ght lines from the cathode; cause glass to fluoresce; are deflected by electric fields and magnets to suggest a possible negative charge; cause pinwheels in their path to spin showing they have mass. In 1896 while studying the effect of x-rays on photographic film, Henri Becquerel discovered some chemicals spontaneously decompose and give off very penetrating rays. He exposed potassium uranyl sulfate to sunlight, believing that uranium absorbed the sun’s energy and emitted it as x-rays. This hypothesis was considered to be a failure because it was overcast in Paris, however Becquerel developed his plates anyways and the images were still clear! This proved