An explanation of the work of the atom. A woman carries an ice cube tray to a man who picks one ice cube and puts it in a flask on top of a Bunsen flame. Close up of the Bunsen flame. An animation shows the molecules in the flame moving with great speed and bouncing with the clay molecules. As more heat is applied, the ice cube molecules move faster and faster. The animation continues to show that as water boils, molecules are kicked away from the surface as steam. A man holding a rock in his hand talks to the camera, behind him is a blackboard with the formula E=m(c)(squared). Close up of the rock which may well be uranium. Close up of an open book page, the page is about Henri Becquerel in the year 1896, atom models are also lying on the table. Another animation describes how Becquerel discovered radioactivity: a piece of uranium was placed, by Becquerel, on top of a photographic plate inside a draw, when Becquerel developed the photographic plate he realised that the plate was fogged, that is, the uranium had exposed the plate (this narration could be either Becquerel's voice or the voice of a mimic. Another open book revealing a page dedicated to 1898 and to Marie and Pierre Curie. A short animation shows Marie and Pierre Curie in their laboratory searching for the source of radiation emanating from uranium, these experiments lead to the discovery of a new element. Close up of the animated new element glowing in the dark ( a voice of either Marie Curie or one mimicking her calls the new element "Radium"). An animation shows a piece of radium giving off radiation. Another open page about 1905 and about Albert Einstein and the new law E=mc(squared), every mass contains a tremendous amount of energy, a short explanation of the law follows. Another animation describes that the atom is not an indestructible little ball. Another open page shows a drawing of Lord Ernest Rutherford (1911) followed by an animation which describes in his own words his experiment that showed that the atom has a nucleus: A cathode ray tube, a piece of radium was placed in a solid lead block, only a small amount of rays are allowed to escape through a small hole in the block, the rays hit a fluorescent screen and target a thin gold leaf, the rays passed through the gold leaf as if it were not there, the gold leaf was a "wall" 2000 atom thick! therefore the atom cannot be solid. Animation showing that in the gold leaf, 1 in 1000 rays ricocheted striking something solid, this animation is followed by another animation showing Rutherford writing his conclusion on a page: "I can only conclude then that the atom is mostly empty space, he then draws a diagram of the atom". Another animation describes the atom and what it is made of, it resembles a solar system, pan on the nucleus reveals that it is made up of protons and neutrons. Thousands and thousands of atoms. A drawing of a pencil. A hand is holding a pencil, it makes a dot on a paper. An open page reveals the Table of the Elements and focuses on the Hydrogen atom, an animation shows the hydrogen atom with an electron orbiting around the nucleus, other atoms follow such as helium, carbon, sulphur, iron, silver and gold.

• published: 20 Aug 2015
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