The Evolving Understanding of Atoms

For 2000 years, we thought atoms were just tiny, unbreakable balls. We were so wrong.

First, Dalton pictured them as simple billiard balls. Then,

Thomson found electrons, turning the atom into a "chocolate chip cookie" model. Rutherford shot

particles at gold foil and discovered a tiny, dense nucleus in a whole lot of empty

space. Next, Bohr imagined electrons orbiting the center like tiny planets.

But the reality is even weirder. Schrödinger showed us that electrons aren't in neat orbits

at all. They exist in fuzzy "clouds" of probability, which is why atoms bond by giving,

taking, or sharing electrons.