The Evolution of Our Understanding of the Atomic Structure

This video provides an overview of how the modern ideas around the atom have developed over thousands of years. It begins with the ancient Greek belief that matter consists of tiny spheres that cannot be divided and were called atoms. The video then describes how JJ Thompson discovered that atoms can be divided and developed the plum pudding model of the atom. However, Rutherford's experiment challenged Thompson's ideas and led to the development of a new model of the atom where most of the mass of an atom is concentrated in a positive nucleus, with negative electrons orbiting around it in energy levels or shells. The video ends by noting that the diagrams used to represent the structure of the atom are not drawn to scale for convenience.