plz explain Dalton's atomic theory
Answers
Dalton’s Atomic Theory-
Matter has been one of the most important subjects of research for the science enthusiasts. Scientists and philosophers have always tried to simplify things and so was the case with the matter. They wanted to know about the fundamental particles that make matter, their properties, structure etc. This led to the formulation of a number of atomic theories.
Democritus was the first man who proposed that matter is made up of particles. He named these particles, ‘atomos’ meaning indivisible. This was the Democritus’ Atomic Theory. Due to the lack of technological setup back then, scientists had very limited information on this theory.
Almost after two thousand years, the works on the simplifying matter was materialized by scientist, John Dalton. In 1808, John Dalton postulated the famous Dalton’s Atomic Theory. He published this theory in a paper titled “A New Chemical Philosophy”; indeed the philosophy was new for that era. Let us now look at the postulates of this theory.
Postulates of Dalton’s Atomic Theory-
The matter is made up of indivisible particles known as atoms.
The properties of all the atoms of a given element are the same including mass. This can also be stated as all the atoms of an element have identical mass while the atoms of different elements have different masses.
Atoms of different elements combine in fixed ratios to form compounds.
Atoms are neither created nor destroyed. This implies that during chemical reactions, no atoms are created nor destroyed.
The formation of new products (compounds) results from the rearrangement of existing atoms (reactants).
Atoms of an element are identical in mass, size and many other chemical or physical properties, but atoms of two-different elements differ in mass, size, and many other chemical or physical properties.
- All matter is composed of extremely small particles called atoms.
- Atoms of a given element are identical in size, mass, and other properties; atoms of different elements differ in size, mass, and other properties.
- Atoms cannot be subdivided, created, or destroyed