First day of Atomic Structure and Radioactivity

Today we went through the first topics about the new unit. First, we learned about Dalton's Atomic Theory. I was interesting to me how we still look at these rules that were made many many years ago. I also liked how we talked about which ones were still true and which ones were false. I had forgotten that it is not true that "all atoms of a given element are identical" because you can have different numbers of neutrons or electrons in an atom which changes how it will react with other elements. We also learned the people credited for understanding what makes up an atom. (JJ Thomson figured out the presence of the electron through a cathode ray tube experiment and Rutherfold figured out that protons and nucleus exist too through a gold foil experiment) The experiment that I found most interesting was the gold foil experiment. I think it was amazing that someone could figure out the presence of a nucleus and protons based on the fact that some alpha particles made it through the atom and others bounced back.

http://images.tutorvista.com/cms/images/81/thomson-model.png

http://education-portal.com/cimages/multimages/16/rutherford-atomic-model.jpg

After the lesson, we completed an entertaining activity. There were these flat containers that had a pattern inside. There was a ball in the inside of the container and you had to move the object around and guess the shape of the inside. Some were very easy and others were rather frustrating to complete. I was a fun activity and I am glad we did it because it took my mind off school for a little bit and allowed me to do what I like best: solving puzzles!