Early models of the atom

I was revising my Physics lecture notes and came by this interesting section, "The early models of the atom".

One of the early models of an atom (which later proved to be wrong) was shaped like a plum pudding, which was suggested by JJ Thompson (1840 - 1940). Quoted from the lecture notes, the model was described as "A volume of positive charge in which negative electrons are embedded".

Actually I don't really know what is plum pudding, so I went to Google for it. And here it is, the plum pudding...


Source: www.luciesfarm.com

Well, the idea is that the electrons were represented as the plums, surrounding the proton, as represented by the plum embedded in the plum pudding. The shape of the plum pudding is not exactly sphere, but you should roughly get the idea.


Model of the atom as suggested by JJ Thomson

Interesting isn't it? FYI, plum pudding is a traditional dessert that was served during the festival. During the Putitan reign in England, plum pudding was outlawed as "sinfully rich". Hehe, cool. I'm sure they never seen chinese cuisine before.

However, nowadays it is only served during the Christmas. Even so, I've never tried anything like that before. (whatscookingamerica.net)

So does that means Thomson got the idea of plum pudding representing the atom during some festival? Hehe. Possible.