How did scientists skepticism about each other lead to a better understanding about the model of the atom?

Answer 1

The bottom line in this topic is that skepticism in theories about atomic structure led to experimentation that revealed fundamental weaknesses in each successive model.

The concept of the atom can be traced to the ancient Greeks, who believed that if you continued to cut matter into progressively smaller pieces, you would eventually get to a piece that could be divided no further. The word "atom" comes from greek "atomos", meaning indivisable.

The first atomic model originated with J.J. Thompson's 1897 discovery of the electron. Thompson believed that electrons were scattered throughout a uniform positive charge that made up most of an atom's mass. He called it the "plum pudding model" because of it's analogy to raisins (electrons) in a pudding (the massive positive charge)

A few years later, in 1911, a scientist named Ernest Rutherford and his colleagues tested the correctness of Thompson's model by watching for deflections as they shot a beam of alpha particles (positively charged helium nuclei) through a thin sheet of gold foil. This experiment revealed that atoms do not contain a uniform distribution of positive charge and electrons, as Thompson suggested, but rather contained mostly empty space. This led to the more correct model that compared atomic structure to the solar system, with a positive nucleus, and electrons orbiting a significant distance away.

From Ruthorford's orbital model, ideas about atomic structure by notable scientists such as Neils Bohr continued to be refined until the most accurate modern models came to be known. The models were refined through skepticism because scientists realized that the models were only correct if they followed experimental predictions, which continued to be violated.