1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 420: Proton-Electron Model! Shocking! The End of the Periodic Table and Radioactivity!
After Sherrington gave a brief speech, the annual meeting entered its second part.

Conference report!

Although the members of the Royal Society of London come from different academic fields, the bigwigs attach great importance to interdisciplinary exchanges.

This is especially true in the field of natural sciences.

A biologist or medical scientist must have in-depth research on chemistry.

Otherwise, he would not be able to analyze how the chemical reactions in living organisms occur and what their effects are.

The organism itself is a huge furnace of chemical reactions.

Similarly, a chemist must understand physics.

The principles of many chemical measurement methods come from breakthroughs in physical theory.

The most typical ones are X-ray analysis of crystal structure and quantum theory's explanation of flame color reaction.

A physicist is the source of science, which is why physicists are so awesome.

As the king of natural sciences, the status of physics is not achieved through struggle but is formed naturally.

Therefore, the status of physicists in the Royal Society will be elevated to a higher level.

Not to mention top physics giants like Ridgway and Rutherford.

At this moment, the first person to come on stage was Rutherford.

The topic he shared today was the discovery of the proton.

Sherrington looked at the imposing Rutherford and said to Thomson beside him with a smile:
"Cavendish's research on atoms surpassed all philosophers' understanding of the origin of the world throughout history."

"I wonder what those great sages would think if they saw this."

"I really envy you, Professor Thompson."

“I am able to teach such outstanding students.”

"Can you teach me some experience?"

Thompson smiled when he heard this.

He knew very well why the new president of the Royal Society cared so much about the training of students.

When Sherrington was in his teens, he was a complete street thug who was always involved in fights and was expelled from school.

Now, he was like a wild horse that had broken free from its reins, becoming even more unbridled, idling away the entire day and doing nothing.

Soon, he met a beautiful milkmaid and confessed his love to her.

However, the girl said disdainfully:

"I'd rather jump into the Thames than marry a scoundrel like you."

A sentence that wakes up the dreamer.

He felt that he had the potential to make progress, so he again begged the school to accept him.

From then on, Sherrington turned over a new leaf and worked hard to become a better person.

Eventually, extraordinary achievements were made in science.

Therefore, when Sherrington later trained his students, his principle was to never give up.

But he is a self-aware person who can climb out of the quagmire with his own perseverance.

It would be very difficult for him to enlighten others.

At this time, Thompson did not hide anything and revealed his core secret.

"Tell them not to get married and have children too early."

The age at which Ridgway and Rutherford got married was indeed late for that era.

When Sherrington heard this, he felt as if his Ren and Du meridians were opened.

"Yes, if I had continued to pester that beautiful girl."

"In the end, it must have hurt both her and myself."

"Because I put love behind me, I can concentrate on studying science."

"Professor Thompson, you say too much."

Thomson smiled faintly, hiding his achievements and fame.

At this moment, while the two big men were exchanging experiences, Rutherford was already standing on the podium.

His gaze gradually swept across the crowd, finally stopping on Li Qiwei's face with a smile on his face.

This made Li Qiwei's hair stand on end and he couldn't help but twist his butt.

Rutherford said in his magnetic voice:

“My research topic at Cavendish and McGill University has always been radioactivity.”

"I proposed the element transmutation hypothesis and the decay concept to explain the nature of radioactivity."

“Why does uranium decay into thorium, which in turn decays into radium, which in turn decays into other elements?”

"These naturally occurring radioactive elements have a certain fixed relationship between them."

"However, my previous theory can only explain the radiation process, but not the underlying mechanism."

“That is, what changes occur inside the atoms of an element when it is reflected?”

"That question made me realize that I had to start studying atomic structure."

"When Professor Bruce proposed the planetary model, he predicted that radioactivity must occur within the nucleus."

"Because planetary structure also cannot explain the nature of radioactivity."

"He firmly believed that the nucleus must have a subdivided structure."

“But theory can never replace experiment.”

“So, this is the result of my experiment today.”

"The discovery of the proton proved that the atomic nucleus can indeed be divided into two parts."

"We are one step closer to understanding the secrets of the atom."

Rutherford's eloquent speech captivated everyone.

This is the charm of science, one problem is always related to another.

There are never shortcuts in science. Any problem you encounter needs to be solved, and there will be more and more problems related to the problem.

This is why Rutherford gave up further research on radioactivity and turned to studying atomic structure.

Although during that period, many physicists discovered new radioactive elements, the periodic table became increasingly rich.

But these are rootless duckweed.

All radioactive elements require a clear and unified theoretical explanation.

This is the most critical issue and of course the most difficult one.

As an authority in the field of radioactivity, Rutherford should shoulder this responsibility and tackle this tough problem.

Now he has done it.

However, Rutherford was still not satisfied.

"But is proton the end?"

"I combined the proton theory with Soddy's radioactive displacement theory, but it still couldn't explain the nature of radioactivity very well."

"I always feel that there are still several dark clouds above my radioactive head."

The bosses all smiled knowingly after hearing this.

Rutherford was paying tribute to the late Lord Kelvin.

At the same time, everyone respected Rutherford even more.

The other party has obviously achieved such brilliant results, but is still not satisfied.

Thomson looked at Rutherford with satisfaction.

My students are not blinded by fame and fortune, and what they always have in their hearts is the pursuit of truth.

Bruce even came up with the theory of general relativity, but he still continued his research and explored the ultimate of physics.

This mentality is more important than all the results.

“So, in today’s report, in addition to me sharing with you the research and discovery process of protons.”

"I'd like to hear if anyone has any good suggestions."

"To borrow Professor Bruce's words: Laymen may bring more wonderful inspiration than experts." "Therefore, atomic structure is not only a problem in physics, it is a problem in the whole science."

“Everyone can give their own opinions.”

Then, Rutherford shared his experimental process and other content in detail.

He also proposed a new atomic nuclear model for the first time: the "proton-electron" model.

"Once we know that the nucleus is made up of protons, our understanding of the periodic table will also change."

"In 1869, Russian chemist Mendeleev first proposed the periodic table of elements."

"He arranged the 63 elements known at the time in a table from smallest to largest relative atomic mass."

“And put elements with similar chemical properties in the same column.”

“This was the prototype of the periodic table.”

"But when Professor Bruce proposed the planetary model, chemists revised the order of the periodic table."

"That is: no longer according to the relative atomic mass of the elements, but according to the number of positive charges carried by the atomic nuclei of the elements."

"That's the atomic number right now."

"The hydrogen atom has a unit positive charge, so its atomic number is 1, ranking first."

"Helium has two positive charges, so its atomic number is 2, making it second in the universe, and so on."

"And now, the presence of protons has a new impact on this ordering."

"Take nitrogen as an example. According to the previous definition, its nuclear charge number is 7, so it ranks seventh in the periodic table."

"But the relative mass of the nitrogen nucleus is 14 times that of the hydrogen nucleus."

"This shows that the nitrogen nucleus should be composed of 14 protons, and its nuclear charge number should be 14."

Wow!
There was a widespread commotion in the venue instantly.

Physicists and chemists were shocked.

Especially the chemists led by Soddy, they felt a throbbing in their hearts.

Chemistry has once again become a vassal of physics.

I don’t know how many times this has happened.

"Oh my God, is our chemistry going to be overthrown by physics again?"

"If it's biochemical, what's the biological thing?"

As Rutherford's former assistant, Soddy was well aware of the strong experimental ability of the man on the stage.

The other party's research results have a subversive impact on the field of chemistry.

Rutherford saw everyone's expressions, smiled, and quickly added:

"Of course, I am not denying the arrangement rules of nuclear charge numbers."

“It’s about supplementing it.”

"I think the nucleus of an atom should be composed of more than just protons, but also electrons."

boom!
Rutherford's words surprised everyone again.

Such a tiny atomic nucleus hides so many secrets.

"With the addition of electrons, the problem of nuclear charge number can be solved."

"Let's take the nitrogen nucleus as an example. In addition to 14 protons, there are also 7 electrons."

"In this way, the positive charge of the proton and the negative charge of the electron cancel each other out, and the entire nitrogen nucleus shows seven positive charges to the outside world."

"So its nuclear charge is 7."

"If the number of protons in the nucleus is N and the atomic number is Z, then there are NZ electrons in the nucleus."

"That's my proton-electron model."

It has to be said that Rutherford's logic is impeccable.

The proton-electron model, based on existing facts, integrates perfectly with other theories.

This perfection made the chemists present ecstatic.

Because they feel that this is the true meaning of chemistry.

Professor Bruce proposed a planetary model of the atom, but knew nothing about the atomic nucleus in the model.

Now, Professor Rutherford proposed the proton-electron model of the atomic nucleus, which allowed scientists to completely understand the structure of the atomic nucleus.

At the same time, the structure of the atom became clear.

No one expected that Rutherford would bring such an important theory to a lecture.

It shocked both the physics and chemistry communities.

Everyone couldn't help but look at Thompson with envy on their faces.

Obviously, everyone thought that this was Rutherford helping the teacher to save face.

It would be really meaningless if he just read out his paper from beginning to end.

Almost all the physical chemistry experts present had read Rutherford's paper, so there was no need to listen to it again.

Now, Rutherford proposed a model of the atomic nucleus based on the proton.

This not only improved the arrangement rules of the periodic table, but also enabled atomic science to achieve a leap forward in development.

No words of praise can describe this model enough.

Facing the eager eyes of the crowd, Rutherford remained without any pride.

He is still explaining his ideas rationally.

"Based on this model, we can have a new explanation for the radioactivity of atoms."

"As we all know, all known radioactive substances emit three different types of rays: alpha rays, beta rays, and gamma rays."

"Their essences are helium nuclei, electron flows, and electromagnetic waves."

"Take the uranium nucleus as an example. If it loses four protons, it means it emits alpha rays."

"There are electrons in the uranium nucleus, so it can emit beta rays."

"As for the gamma rays, I guess they are caused by quantum transitions of electrons in the nucleus."

"Since electrons outside the nucleus can emit electromagnetic waves through transitions, electrons inside the nucleus should be able to do the same."

"At the same time, because the environment of electrons inside the nucleus is different from that of electrons outside the nucleus, they can emit gamma rays that electrons outside the nucleus cannot produce."

"The above is my analysis of the nature of radioactivity using the proton-electron model."

Wow!
When Rutherford finished his theory, the whole hall fell silent.

Chemists lamented: "Rutherford put an end to the periodic table."

Physicists exclaimed: "Rutherford also ended radioactivity."

Others: "Rutherford ended our right to pretend."

Everyone was impressed by this theoretical analysis; it was so perfect.

Most importantly, like the original Bohr-Lee model, it solves various existing problems in reality.

Everyone can already imagine what kind of shock the physics community will experience after today's speech.

This is a theory that is as famous as the Bohr-Lee model.

Of course, the prerequisite is that it must be verified by experiments.

The man on the stage deserves the title of the Twin Pride of Cavendish.

Today’s content is enough to make Rutherford one of the top physicists and look up to Professor Bruce.

The big guys couldn't help but sigh:

“It turns out that Rutherford’s previous request for us to give suggestions was just his humble words.”

"He already had the most perfect theory himself."

Just when everyone was immersed in Rutherford's proton-electron theory.

Suddenly, a voice rang out in the empty report hall:
"I don't think so."

boom!
Everyone was shocked!

(End of this chapter)