THE PHYSICISTS| My Journey In Science 4

Research for the following personality:

1.1 Ernest Rutherford

Ernest Rutherford is the father of nuclear chemistry and nuclear physics. He discovered and named the atomic nucleus, the proton, the alpha particle, and the beta particle. He discovered the concept of nuclear half-lives and achieved the first deliberate transformation of one element into another, fulfilling one of the ancient passions of the alchemists.

1.2 Niels Bohr

Niels Bohr completely transformed our view of the atom and of the world. Realizing that classical physics fails catastrophically when things are atom-sized or smaller, he remodeled the atom so electrons occupied ‘allowed’ orbits around the nucleus while all other orbits were forbidden. In doing so he founded quantum mechanics.

Later, as a leading architect of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, he helped to reshape our understanding of how nature operates at the atomic scale.

1.3 Max Planck

Max Planck changed physics and our understanding of the world forever when he discovered that hot objects do not radiate a smooth, continuous range of energies as had been assumed in classical physics. Instead, he found that the energies radiated by hot objects have distinct values, with all other values forbidden. This discovery was the beginning of quantum theory – an entirely new type of physics – which replaced classical physics for atomic scale events.
Quantum theory revolutionized our understanding of atomic and subatomic processes, just as Albert Einstein’s theories of relativity revolutionized our understanding of gravity, space, and time. Together these theories constitute the most spectacular breakthroughs of twentieth-century physics.
Of high intelligence, showing brilliance in mathematics, science, and music, Planck was a deeply thoughtful, ethical man. He experienced a long life, living almost 90 years. In his later years he lived in Germany through the great depression and both world wars, suffering a succession of personal tragedies.

List down/identify their contributions in the field of chemistry:

Ernest Rutherford contributed the Discovery of alpha and beta radiation, The age of planet Earth and radiometric dating, Discovery of the atomic nucleus, Discovery of nuclear reactions, Discovery of the proton, and Predicting the existence of the neutron

While, Niels Bohr contributed a New Way of Thinking about Atoms, Part of the Balmer Series, Bohr Sheds New Light on an old Problem, The emission spectrum of helium, The Founding of Quantum Chemistry, Bohr Pushes our Understanding of the Atom Forward by a Quantum Leap, Nobel Prize, The Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, The Compound Nucleus, The Nucleus as a Drop of Liquid, and The Manhattan Project.

Lastly, Max Planck contributed the Classical Physics Disagrees with Reality, Black-body Radiation Intensity vs Wavelength, Quantum Theory, and The Planck Scale.

What is the important relationship had these 3 personality in the atomic model.

Rutherford began the experiment because he was puzzled that fewer alpha particles than expected from a sample of radium were reaching a new detector in his laboratory. The only medium the particles had to travel through was a small amount of air. Rutherford thought the huge amount of energy carried by alpha particles should have allowed them to travel through a small amount of air undisturbed, with no deflection.

Bohr knew Rutherford’s picture of the atom disagreed with the laws of classical physics. These said that negatively charged electrons must radiate energy and be pulled into the positively charged nucleus. Even when he wrote his Ph.D. thesis, Bohr stated that it was impossible for classical physics to explain behavior at the atomic scale.

In order to match theory with observations Planck made a revolutionary proposal. If you’re not already familiar with quantum theory, to understand what he proposed, it might help to think about a times table – for example the three times table – 3, 6, 9, 12, 15… in which only numbers divisible by 3 are allowed and all other numbers are forbidden.

Planck’s idea was that energy is emitted in a similar manner. He proposed that only certain amounts of energy could be emitted – i.e. quanta. Classical physics held that all values of energy were possible.