wayground logo

Free Printable Worksheets

Font size

S
M
L
XL
Worksheets

History of the Atom Project Test (2025)

Total questions: 45

Worksheet time: 2hrs 37mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Which scientist was the first person responsible for proposing the idea of atoms?

a)

Democritus

b)

John Dalton

c)

Ernest Rutherford

d)

J.J. Thomson

e)

Niels Bohr

2.

Which scientist was the first person responsible for proposing the discovery of the electron?

a)

Democritus

b)

John Dalton

c)

Ernest Rutherford

d)

J.J. Thomson

e)

Niels Bohr

3.

Which scientist was the first person responsible for proposing the discovery of the nucleus?

a)

Democritus

b)

John Dalton

c)

Ernest Rutherford

d)

J.J. Thomson

e)

Niels Bohr

4.

Which scientist claimed that the atom was a small, dense, solid sphere?

a)

Democritus

b)

John Dalton

c)

Ernest Rutherford

d)

J.J. Thomson

e)

Niels Bohr

5.

Which scientist's model is referred to as the Plum Pudding Model?

a)

Democritus

b)

John Dalton

c)

Ernest Rutherford

d)

J.J. Thomson

e)

Niels Bohr

6.

Which scientist's model is referred to as the Planetary model?

a)

Democritus

b)

John Dalton

c)

Ernest Rutherford

d)

J.J. Thomson

e)

Niels Bohr

7.

Which scientist proposed the idea that the electrons orbited the nucleus on fixed paths with designated energies?

a)

Democritus

b)

John Dalton

c)

Ernest Rutherford

d)

J.J. Thomson

e)

Niels Bohr

8.

Who discovered the alpha particle?

a)

Democritus

b)

John Dalton

c)

Ernest Rutherford

d)

J.J. Thomson

e)

Niels Bohr

9.

Which model of the atom is the most up to date model?

a)

The Solid Sphere Model

b)

The Plum Pudding Model

c)

The Planetary Model

d)

The Wave Mechanical Model

e)

The Nuclear Model

10.

Which model of the atom describes the location of electrons as probable within a dense "cloud" surrounding the nucleus of an atom?

a)

The Solid Sphere Model

b)

The Plum Pudding Model

c)

The Planetary Model

d)

The Wave Mechanical Model

e)

The Nuclear Model

11.

Who was the first contributor to the atomic theory?

a)

John Dalton

b)

Ernest Rutherford

c)

JJ Thompson

d)

Democritus

e)

Neils Bohr

12.

What were J. J. Thomson's three contributions to the atomic theory?

a)

Discovered the electron

b)

Discovered the nucleus -did the gold foil experiment

c)

Used the cathode ray tube in his discovery

d)

Created a model of the atom with electrons moving around the nucleus in fixed orbits

e)

Created the "plum pudding" model of the atom

13.

What are two facts about Democritus's?

a)

Greek philosopher

b)

Created the atomic theory

c)

Used the cathode ray tube in his discovery

d)

Believed that the universe was made of tiny "uncuttable" particles

e)

Discovered that the atom is mostly empty space

14.

What is Neils Bohr's contribution to the atomic theory?

a)

Created the atomic theory

b)

Created a model of the atom with electrons moving around the nucleus in a fixed orbits

c)

Discovered that the proton had a positive charge

d)

Believed that atoms of a given element are identical

e)

Discovered the electron

15.

What were Ernest Rutherford's three contributions to atomic theory?

a)

Discovered that the atom is mostly empty space

b)

Discovered the nucleus- did the gold foil experiment

c)

Used the cathode ray tube in his discovery

d)

Discovered the electron

e)

Discovered that the proton had a positive charge

16.
Which model of the atom proposed that atoms were positive spheres with negative electrons in them?
a)
Heliocentric Model
b)
Solid Sphere Model
c)
Plum Pudding Model
d)
Planetary Model
17.
Which scientist saw the atom as a solid sphere?
a)
Dalton
b)
Thomson
c)
Rutherford
d)
Bohr
18.
Who came up with this model?
a)
Dalton
b)
Thomson
c)
Rutherford
d)
Bohr
19.
Discovered particles in the nucleus of atoms, neutrons
a)
Niels Bohr
b)
Ernest Rutherford
c)
J.J. Thomson
d)
James Chadwick
20.
In Dalton's Atomic Theory, all elements consist of __________ that cannot be divided.
a)
Atoms
b)
Parts
c)
Molecules
d)
Hydrogen
21.
In the Thomson Model, he discovered the existence of what particle?
a)
Electrons
b)
Protons
c)
Neutrons
d)
Quarks
22.

From the results of the Gold Foil Experiment, Rutherford drew what 2 conclusions about the atom?

a)

atoms are composed of electron clouds

b)

the atom is composed of mostly empty space.

c)

the electrons are embedded within a positively charge substance

d)

electrons are found in the nucleus

e)

atoms contain a small dense positively charged center

23.
Democritus believed that the smallest particles, were atomos, the Greek word for 
a)
small
b)
uncut or indivisible
c)
basic
24.

Mass is neither created nor destroyed during chemical reactions or physical changes.

a)

Law of multiple proportions

b)

law of definite proportions

c)

law of scientific theory

d)

law of conservation of mass

25.

Joseph Proust stated that, regardless of the amount, a compound is always composed of the same elements in the same proportion by mass. This is better known as....

a)

law of definite proportions

b)

law of conservation of mass

c)

law of multiple proportions

d)

periodic table

26.
the smallest particle of an element that retains the chemical properties of that element
a)
ion
b)
isotope
c)
atom
d)
element
27.

Who discovered the natural radioactivity of uranium?

a)

Joseph Proust

b)

Henri Bequerel

c)

James Marsden

d)

J. J. Thomson

28.

Discovered Radium and Polonium?

a)

Erwin Schrodinger

b)

Henri Becquerel

c)

Marie Curie

d)

Ernest Rutherford

29.

Who is considered the "father of modern chemistry" ?

a)

Democritus

b)

Joseph Proust

c)
James Dolton 
d)

Antoine Lavoisier

30.
Which model suggested that: Atoms mostly consist of positively charged material with negatively charged particles (electrons) located throughout the positive material.
a)
Bohrs Model
b)
Plum Pudding Model 
c)
Democritus Model
d)
Our current model 
31.

Developed the “chocolate chip cookie” model of the atom, a modern version of the model type since Americans have no clue what his pudding dessert is!

a)
James Chadwick
b)
Niels Bohr
c)
Schrodinger & Heisenberg
d)
J.J. Thomson
32.

Proposed the concept that electrons pairing, and created a structure to explain chemical bonding.

a)
Niels Bohr
b)

G. N. Lewis

c)
J.J. Thomson
d)
Ernest Rutherford
33.

Developed the model of the atom that stated that electrons are found orbiting around the nucleus, but had no idea about why they didn't collapse into the positively charged nucleus.

a)
John Dalton
b)
Schrodinger & Heisenberg
c)
Ernest Rutherford
d)
Niels Bohr
34.

His work established spectroscopy, and linked spectral lines to elements.

a)
Niels Bohr
b)

Gustav Kirchhoff

c)

Max Planck

d)

Louis de Broglie

35.

Developed the “wave mechanical” model of the atom

a)
John Dalton
b)
Schrodinger & Heisenberg
c)
James Chadwick
d)
Ernest Rutherford
36.

His 5 part atomic theory suggested that atoms were rearranged during chemical reactions to form new substances.

a)
Ernest Rutherford
b)
Schrodinger & Heisenberg
c)
Niels Bohr
d)
John Dalton
37.

Who discovered that the atom had an small, dense, positively charged center?

a)

Ernest Rutherford

b)

J.J Thomson

c)

Robert Millikan

d)

John Dalton

38.

Place the following atomic models in order, from earliest to latest:


A) Rutherford B) Thomson C) Dalton D) Heisenberg & Schrodinger E) Bohr

a)

B, C, A, E, D

b)

D, C, E, A, B

c)

D, E, A, B, C

d)

C, B, A, E, D

39.
What can you conclude from the fact that scientists continue to update the atomic model?
a)
New information about atoms continues to be discovered
b)
Old information about atoms is completely useless
c)
Scientists did not have any information about atoms until a few years ago
d)
Scientists still have no idea what atoms look like
40.

Who invented a device to detect radioactive particle?

a)

Geiger

b)

Planck

c)

Mosley

d)

Rutherford

41.

Which scientists believed an atom was indivisible? (Choose all correct responses.)

a)

Democritus

b)

Dalton

c)

Thomson

d)

Rutherford

42.

Which scientist discovered that the atom has parts - which means it can be divided?

a)

Democritus

b)

Dalton

c)

Thomson

d)

Rutherford

43.

His work rearranged the periodic table by putting the elements in order by atomic number rather than by atomic mass.

a)

Rutherford

b)

Mosely

c)

Chadwick

d)

Mendeleev

44.

Developed an equation to describe the behavior of an electron.

a)

Rutherford

b)

Planck

c)

Schrodinger

d)

Marsden

45.

Considered the "father of quantum mechanics", creating an entire new branch of physics based upon energy is quantized into packets of energy called quanta.

a)

Shrodinger

b)

Planck

c)

Rutherford

d)

Heisenberg