Throughout history, science has been evolving and changing in a variety of ways. A vast number of proclamations have been both proven and disproven over time. An example of an ever-changing statement is the Atomic Theory of Matter. This theory states that matter is composed of extremely small units called atoms, what those atoms are made of, and what they do. This theory dates back all the way to ancient Greece and was most recently updated in the 1920's. Five main scientists have had a part in shaping and evolving this theory. They are Democritus, John Dalton, Joseph John Thomson, Ernest Rutherford, and Neils Bohr. In 5th century BC, a Greek philosopher named Democritus created the earliest form of the theory of matter. He was aware that two halves of a stone were overall identical, so he came to the conclusion that the stone would eventually become too small to cut if it continued to be separated. He referred to these minuscule pieces of matter as "atomos", the Greek word for indivisible. Democritus theorized that an atom differed in size and shape, as well as believing that they were in …show more content…
Firstly, he believed that all matter was made of sphere-like atoms that were always in many different stages of motion. In addition, he theorized that atoms could not be destroyed, created, divided, or transformed into other atoms. Dalton based this assumption on the law of conservation of mass. Another theory of his was that elements were characterized by the weight of their atoms and that atoms of the same element had an identical weight. Finally, he believed that chemical reactions combined atoms into small whole-number ratios, and element reactions combine into more than one whole-number ratios. This theory was usually accepted due to the fact that it explained the laws of conservation of mass, as well as multiple and definite
John Dalton wrote the modern atomic theory, a fundamental component of that is, the mole ratios of elements in a compound will be small whole numbers.
In this experiment, you will have a chance to test the hypothesis that Ernest Rutherford used when determining the size of the nucleus. In his "gold foil experiment," Rutherford shot alpha particles at gold atoms. Once he realized that the alpha particles were hitting a concentrated positive mass, he developed the nuclear model of the atom. Next, he set out to determine the relative size of the nucleus compared to the rest of the atom. He reasoned that the smaller the nucleus, the less likely it was to be hit by an alpha particle. This led to a simple comparative ratio:
This idea came from the findings of Democritus. His second conclusion was that all atoms of one type have the same mass and properties. Along with this point, Dalton understood atoms of different types had different masses and properties. Dalton’s fourth point consisted of the fact that chemical reactions do not create, change, or destroy elements, they are only rearranged in these reactions. The final point of Dalton’s theory was when different elements combine, they do so in some ratio of whole numbers. John Dalton was able to find mass numbers for twenty one different elements. The Law of Mass Conservation, created by Antoine Lavoisier, was supporting evidence to Dalton’s atomic theory. Next, J. J. Thompson contributed ideas to the existing theory. In 1898 he used a cathode ray and discharge tube to aid in the discovery of electrons. The electron has an antimatter counterpart. This counterpart is known as the positron, positrons have the same mass as electrons. J.J. Thompson was able to determine the existence of a + particle . He also founded the plum pudding model , this model showed negative particles scattered around a positive
Our image of an atom has changed throughout history. The atom is the smallest unit to make all matter. Every solid, liquid and even gas has matter composed of atoms. Many people have contributed to our understanding of atoms that dates back to as far as Ancient Greece. That goes to show how much work scientists have put in to help us unlock more doors to life.
The field of science during the times of the Greeks have greatly influenced the modern world as one perceives it in the present day. The atomic theory has much responsibility for the relation of Greek thought and modern beliefs. Democritus was one of the fir4st Greek philosophers to explain the theory of the atom. He said that it was indivisible. Furthermore, he explained that each element is made of particles, and that change occurs by the transfer of the atoms. In comparison to the modern day atomic theory, Democritus had the correct notion as to the significance of the atom-it is indivisible. From the research done, Democritus’ idea of the atom did not directly influence the contemporary theory of the atom. The Greek
John Dalton was a British chemist born in 1766 in England to a Quaker family. His family was poor and he was homeschooled until at age 15. He and his brother ran a school. He had the biggest effect on the atom. He was the first to bring back the idea of an atom and prove it. One reason Dalton’s discovery is important is without it
Around 2,500 years ago, Democritus and his partner Leucippus were the first ones to develop the atomic theory in written history. Their theory proposed that every kind of matter was made up of tiny particles, which were named atomos, which means that it is indivisible. This meant that Democritus and Leucippus thought there were little particles of everything, but, the next breakthrough in atomic theory wasn’t made until the early 1800s with a french chemist by the name of Antoine Lavoisier, he was the one who came up with the idea of the law of the conservation of mass, which states that matter stays the same even when it changes shape or form. Then, James Dalton said that all matter was made up of atoms, which were indivisible, and unbreakable.
The second main contributor toward the atomic structure was John Dalton. John Dalton was the one who brought the atomic theory talk back into play after 2000 years from Democritus. Dalton become fond of the atomic structure following his love from meteorology. He claimed that the forces of repulsion that caused pressure only were between the same atoms and the atoms inside a mixture had different weights and complexity. He then decided to calculate the atomic weights by determining the percentages of each composition in a compound. This allowed him to be able to
During the early 1940’s atomic science had just began to mature. Many people were exploring the powerful mystery of the atom. Two of those people were Eugene Booth and John Dunning, who, in 1941, synthesized uranium-235. Immense scientific growth followed their contribution, since it allowed for nuclear fission (Griffith). In the years following this discovery, nuclear science took a turn. Once only used as a constructive power source, atoms began being explored for their destructive power. In 1942 the United States government funded the Manhattan Project that sole goal was to develop a nuclear bomb. The initiator for this endeavor was surprisingly the famous scientist Albert Einstein. He wrote to Franklin D. Roosevelt , and tipped him off
Democritus made the atomic theory widely known, which stated that the universe is composed of two elements: the atoms and the void in which these atoms exist and move. (More, 1646)
Around 1803 John Dalton, an English chemist developed the first useful atomic theory of matter. Amedeo Avogadro, the Italian chemist in 1811 published an article drawing the distinction between the atom and the molecule, which now is known as “Avogadro’s
Over the course of the last 5000 years, mankind’s knowledge has been constantly advancing. Chemistry, a branch of science, has experienced a tremendous leap and expansions since ancient Greek civilization. One of the major breakthroughs in the advancement in Chemistry was the creation of the Atomic theory, which laid a foundation for the modern-day Chemistry and future of science. The Atomic theory introduced the idea of atoms, which are defined as the discrete units of matter. There are five key scientists that significantly contributed to the Atomic model over a span of thousands of years. They are: Democritus, John Dalton, J.J. Thompson, Ernest Rutherford, and Niels Bohr.
The Discovery of the Atom first came from the Greeks which made a theory “The idea that all matter is made up of tiny, indivisible particles, or atoms, is believed to have originated with the Greek philosopher Leucippus of Miletus and his student Democritus of Abdera in the 5th century B.C. (The word atom comes from the Greek word atomos, which means “indivisible.”)” (InfoPlease Atomic theory)
Dalton was the son of a Quaker weaver. When only 12 he took charge of