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Why was Thomson's Model of an atom failed?
1. It could not explain the screening of negative charges from that of positive
2. It did not tell about the presence of electrons
3. It did not give an idea about the discrete energy levels
4. It explained the atom as a whole to be electrically neutral
Choose the correct option from the following:
  • a)
    3 Only
  • b)
    1 and 3 Only
  • c)
    1 Only
  • d)
    2 and 4 only
Correct answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer?
Most Upvoted Answer
Why was Thomson's Model of an atom failed? 1. It could not explain th...
  • Thomson atomic model was proposed by William Thomson in the year 1900. This model explained the description of an inner structure of the atom theoretically. It was strongly supported by Sir Joseph Thomson, who had discovered the electron earlier. During a cathode ray tube experiment, a negatively charged particle was discovered by J.J. Thomson. This experiment took place in the year 1897.
  • Cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube. The negative particle was called an electron. Thomson assumed that an electron is two thousand times lighter than a proton and believed that an atom is made up of thousands of electrons.
  • In this atomic structure model, he considered atoms surrounded by a cloud having positive as well as negative charges. The demonstration of the ionization of air by X-ray was also done by him together with Rutherford.
  • They were the first to demonstrate it. Thomson’s model of an atom is similar to a plum pudding. Postulates of Thomson’s atomic model: Postulate 1: An atom consists of a positively charged sphere with electrons embedded in it Postulate 2: An atom as a whole is electrically neutral because the negative and positive charges are equal in magnitude Thomson atomic model is compared to watermelon.
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Why was Thomson's Model of an atom failed? 1. It could not explain th...
Thomson's Model of an atom, also known as the "plum pudding model," was proposed by J.J. Thomson in 1904. It was an early attempt to describe the structure of an atom, but it ultimately failed to explain certain observations and phenomena. The correct option is B, which means that Thomson's model failed to explain the screening of negative charges and the presence of electrons.

1. Screening of negative charges: The plum pudding model suggested that the atom is composed of a positively charged sphere with negatively charged electrons embedded in it. However, it could not explain the phenomenon of screening, which is the reduction in the effective nuclear charge experienced by an electron due to the presence of other electrons. In reality, the outer electrons are shielded from the full positive charge of the nucleus by inner electrons, resulting in a reduced net charge felt by the outer electrons. Thomson's model did not account for this phenomenon.

2. Presence of electrons: The plum pudding model did not provide any explanation for the presence of electrons within the atom. It simply assumed their existence without any supporting evidence or understanding of their behavior. This lack of explanation was a major limitation of Thomson's model.

3. Discrete energy levels: The plum pudding model failed to give an idea about the discrete energy levels observed in the emission and absorption spectra of atoms. It could not explain why certain frequencies of light were emitted or absorbed by atoms, as well as the quantized nature of energy levels. This limitation was later resolved by Niels Bohr's model, which introduced the concept of electron orbits and quantized energy levels.

4. Atom as electrically neutral: Thomson's model correctly explained that atoms are electrically neutral overall, with the positive and negative charges balancing each other. However, it did not provide a clear understanding of how this neutrality is achieved. It simply assumed that the positive and negative charges were uniformly distributed within the atom.

In conclusion, Thomson's Model of an atom failed to explain the screening of negative charges and the presence of electrons, which are key aspects of atomic structure. It also did not account for the discrete energy levels observed in atoms. Despite its shortcomings, Thomson's model laid the foundation for further developments in atomic theory and paved the way for more accurate models, such as the Bohr model and the modern quantum mechanical model of the atom.
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