Final answer:
Thomson's model of the atom, also known as the plum pudding model, proposed that atoms were made up of a positively charged sphere with negatively charged electrons embedded within it, similar to plums in a pudding. His experiments provided evidence for the existence of electrons as individual particles and that atoms were not solid and indivisible.
Step-by-step explanation:
Thomson's model of the atom, also known as the plum pudding model, proposed that atoms were made up of a positively charged sphere with negatively charged electrons embedded within it, similar to plums in a pudding.
In this model, the electrons were spread throughout the atom, with the positive charge evenly distributed. The key principle of this model was that atoms were not indivisible and contained subatomic particles.
Thomson's contributions to our understanding of atomic structure were significant, as his experiments provided evidence for the existence of electrons as individual particles and that atoms were not solid and indivisible.
His model was one of the first to suggest that atoms had a substructure, challenging the previous notion of atoms as indivisible particles. Although Thomson's model was later replaced by Rutherford's nuclear model, his work laid the foundation for further discoveries about atomic structure.