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Atomic Theory Timeline

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Atomic Theory Timeline

Atomic theory scientists illustration

🔬 Part 1: Atomic Theory Knowledge

1. Who was Democritus and why is he important to atomic theory?

A Roman scientist who discovered electrons

An ancient Greek philosopher who first proposed atoms

A modern physicist who split the atom

A chemist who created the periodic table

2. What does the word "atom" originally mean?

Very small

Invisible

Indivisible

Round

3. Which scientists contributed to atomic theory? (Select all that apply)

John Dalton

J.J. Thomson

Ernest Rutherford

Isaac Newton

Niels Bohr

4. Put these scientists in chronological order by writing 1, 2, 3, 4 in the boxes:

☐ J.J. Thomson (discovered the electron)

☐ Democritus (proposed atoms exist)

☐ John Dalton (created atomic theory)

☐ Ernest Rutherford (discovered the nucleus)

📝 Part 2: Timeline Analysis

5. Explain why Democritus's idea about atoms was important, even though he had no experimental evidence:
6. How did atomic theory change over time? Give one example of how a later scientist improved on earlier ideas:
7. Complete the sentences about atomic theory development:

a) Democritus lived in ancient _____________ around 460 BC.

b) John Dalton proposed that atoms of the same element are _____________ and have the same mass.

c) J.J. Thomson discovered tiny negatively charged particles called _____________.

d) Ernest Rutherford found that atoms have a dense centre called the _____________.

8. Why do you think it took over 2000 years for scientists to prove Democritus's ideas about atoms?

🎯 Part 3: Scientific Thinking

9. What is the difference between Democritus's ideas and modern atomic theory?

Democritus was completely wrong about atoms

Democritus had the basic idea, but we now know atoms have internal structure

Modern theory proves atoms are indivisible like Democritus said

There is no difference between the theories

10. In your own words, explain how scientific knowledge builds on previous ideas using atomic theory as an example:

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