What is the most important atomic model?

Question: What is the most important atomic model?
- Keywords:
  atomic model
Asked by anon-258336 on 6 Jul 2020.
- Heather Walton answered on 6 Jul 2020:
  
  I think the most important is Rutherford’s model, where it was first suggested that the nucleus was a dense area in the middle of the atom containing the positive charge, and that the electrons travelled around in empty space ‘orbiting’ the nucleus. This would be the most important because a lot of it is right, and it is much closer to reality than previous models when it was thought that atoms were all the kinds of particle mixed up! The Rutherford model lets you explain a lot of chemistry, so is very useful, but it does miss out important features of atoms like the orbitals that electrons are in, so there are definitely more detailed and realistic models, but they get very complicated. So I think that the Rutherford one is most important and is the best one to teach everyone at school 🙂
- Katherine Haxton answered on 7 Jul 2020:
  
  This is a hard question! The Rutherford, Bohr and quantum atomic models are all really important because they show how our understanding of atoms has advanced. The Rutherford one is important because as Heather notes, it shows the positive nucleus and the negative electrons and where they are generally. But I’m going to say the Bohr one is most important because it shows the same things as Rutherford and also puts the electrons into different energy levels. That’s a really important idea to explain some aspects of chemistry. Both the Rutherford and Bohr models have problems though so our best way of explaining the structure of atoms is the quantum model.
- Andy Kowalski answered on 7 Jul 2020:
  
  I concur on points made by both Heather and Katherine but also point out the significance of electrons in different energy levels and the effects this has how these can be measured by instrumentation when the species are exited by sources.
- Ruth Patchett answered on 7 Jul 2020:
  
  I’d say the Bohr model. Partly because it emphasizes the different energy levels that electrons fall in to – which is important for all kinds of experimental work we do. But also it is the most widely recognized by people who aren’t professional scientists so we can use it as a starting point when we are explaining things!
- Kat Hunter answered on 8 Jul 2020:
  
  This is a good question. It’s been a long time since I have thought about atomic models but I’d say each of them have their own advantages in our understanding. Also each model was needed to work on the next model…so maybe then this means the very first atomic model is the most important because its where we began to illustrate our understanding of the atoms?! https://www.compoundchem.com/2016/10/13/atomicmodels/ gives a good history of the atom in an infographic – check it out!
- Alex Ttofi answered on 9 Jul 2020:
  
  Great Q – Looking at the chain others have said many famous models – but the one important one for all of us are those simple ones we build in chemistry lessons when I was at school many moons ago. They are the ones that inspired imagination and wonder and helped make me a scientist I am today. Our old chemistry teacher used to build big protein molecules and display them – for all to marvel at. Amazing what a few coloured balls and some sticks can do

Question: What is the most important atomic model?

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