Atomic Model (Part 1: Democritus, the originator of the theory of the atom)

 
Human thought is always growing, especially about the universe that is still surrounded by many mysteries. Such as how the universe was formed? What form the basic arrangement of this nature? and other questions. For example, in ancient Greece, some philosophers have been thinking about the structure of the material that is based on the idea of splitting the material is smaller. The idea had been developed and become useful in the future. One of the most important concepts born of human thought is the concept of atoms of the material that will be discussed.


One of concepts of atom was proposed by the ancient Greek philosopher, Democritus (460-370 BC). Democritus and his followers belive that every object or mater found in the world is composed by the minute, invisible, indivisible particle called atom. Atom is simplest and smallest division of an object or matter. The word "ATOM" is derived from Greek atomos meaning "unable be cut".

According to Democritus, atom are made up of precisely the same matter, but atoms of different element differ in shape, size, weight, arrangement, and position. The size, shape and arragement of atom of a substance determine the substance properties. Example, the atom of a fluid are smooth so they can easily slide over one another, while the atoms of a solid are rough and jagged so they cn attach to other.

Althought the nation dealing with atoms as the tiny bits of a substance or mater is consistent with the modern atomic theory, prior researchers did not understand the properties of atom or their interactions in a substace. For many centuries, scienties did not have a method or techology to test their theories about the basic structure or matter, so people in that era took for grated the Democriticus' idea dealing with atom. 


After the death of Democritus, the theory of the atom is growing from time to time, some well-known theories presented after Democritus, among others:

• Dalton's Atomic Model by Jhon Dalton (1766-1844)
• Thomson's Atomic Model by Sir Joseph Thomson in 1899
• Rutherford's Atomic Model by Ernest Rutherford, Geiger, and Marsden in 1911
• Bohr's Atomic Model by Neils Bohr in 1913 
• Teory Atomic Modern

Next- Atomic Model (Part 2: The Dalton's Atomic Model)