Answer
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Work Step by Step
a. From Thomson's work, he would feel that electrons are the most important particles for the formation of compounds (chemical changes) because he discovered the electron and proposed that they were the negatively charged particles in atoms. He believed that chemical reactions occurred when the electrons in atoms were rearranged, forming new compounds.
b. Based on Thomson's work, it's difficult to say which of the remaining two subatomic particles (protons or neutrons) would place second in importance for forming compounds. At the time of Thomson's work, the concept of protons and neutrons as subatomic particles had not been discovered yet, and Thomson did not propose any model for the atomic nuclei.
c. Three models that could explain Thomson's findings are:
1.The "plum pudding" model: proposed by Thomson, in which atoms were composed of negatively charged electrons embedded in a positively charged "pudding."
2.The "Rutherford atomic model" proposed by Lord Rutherford, in which atoms were composed of a small, dense, positively charged nucleus, and negatively charged electrons orbiting around it.
3.The "Bohr atomic model" proposed by Niels Bohr, in which atoms were composed of a small, dense, positively charged nucleus, and negatively charged electrons orbiting around it in fixed energy levels.
Thomson's model was based on the observation that cathode rays (negatively charged particles) were deflected by magnetic fields, and suggested that the electrons were spread throughout the atom. This model was later modified by Rutherford with his gold-foil experiment that showed that most of the atom's mass was concentrated in a small, dense, positively charged nucleus. The Bohr model further developed this idea by proposing that electrons orbit the nucleus in specific energy levels.
