What model of the atom did J.J. Thomson propose?

J.J. Thomson proposed the plum pudding model of the atom in 1897 after his discovery of the electron. This model suggested that the atom is a homogeneous sphere of positively charged matter in which negatively charged electrons are embedded throughout, resembling a plum pudding where the pudding represents the positive charge and the plums represent the negatively charged electrons.

At the time Thomson was developing his ideas, the understanding of atomic structure was still very primitive. The plum pudding model was significant because it introduced the concept of subatomic particles and provided a more advanced understanding of atomic structure than previous models, which depicted atoms as indivisible spheres. This model indicated that atoms were not solid objects but had internal structure, laying the groundwork for later developments in atomic theory, including the more accurate nuclear model proposed by Ernest Rutherford.