Atomic Physics Part 1: The Atomic Theory

Though the production is very basic, here, it is still quite an interesting potted history of the evolution of atomic physics from it’s elementary beginnings with John Dalton as far back at the early 1800s through to Lord Rutherford’s declaration that by the end of the 19th century we knew of some eighty unique elements whose atoms could never be split, were all roughly the same size and shape and who were utterly indestructible. It illustrates how the weights and properties of these elements could be categorised into what ultimately becomes Mendeleev’s period table devised in 1869. It also introduces us to the concept of polarising molecules using electricity and of perpetual motion using some simple but still quite effective diagrams. Part one of a six part series that isn’t afraid to acknowledge that some of the theories presented proved to be a bit off the mark, but also shows that some of these Victorian thinkers were well ahead of their times.

Though the production is very basic, here, it is still quite an interesting potted history of the evolution of atomic physics from it’s elementary beginnings with John Dalton as far back at the early 1800s through to Lord Rutherford’s declaration that by the end of the 19th century we knew of some eighty unique elements whose atoms could never be split, were all roughly the same size and shape and who were utterly indestructible. It illustrates how the weights and properties of these elements could be categorised into what ultimately becomes Mendeleev’s Periodic Table devised in 1869. It also introduces us to the concept of polarising molecules using electricity and of perpetual motion using some simple but still quite effective diagrams. Part one of a six part series that isn’t afraid to acknowledge that some of the theories presented proved to be a bit off the mark, but also shows that some of these Victorian thinkers were well ahead of their times.