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History of Chemistry: The Influence of John Dalton Essay

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John Dalton was a renowned chemist born in Eaglesfield, England on September 6th, 1766. Dalton is known for his teachings of James Prescott Joule, the atomic theory, and Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures. Dalton did much to contribute to the wide world of chemistry as a whole. Dalton is best known for his contribution to the modern atomic theory. Born in 1766, John Dalton faced many obstacles while studying chemistry. Although many obstacles were faced, Dalton still achieved becoming one of the best known chemists of all time. Before John Dalton, the majority of people did not understand the makeup of an element and why it could be held together. But Dalton came up with the modern atomic theory, explaining the basics of atoms. And also …show more content…

2. Atoms of a given element are identical in size, mass, and other properties; atoms of different elements differ in size, mass, and other properties.
3. Atoms cannot be subdivided, created, or destroyed.
4.Atoms of different elements combine in simple whole-number ratios to form chemical compounds.
5. In chemical reactions, atoms are combined, separated, or rearranged. (Page 68, 2009) Before Dalton the Greeks already introduced the idea that elements were composed of atoms and that atoms of different elements had different physical properties. What distinguished Dalton from other chemists was his method for actually determining atomic weight. In an essay published in 1805, Dalton had included a list of atomic weights for 21 elements. Dalton was also the first to propose standard symbols for the elements. Some of these statements have been tested and proved to be false due to the lack of resources that John Dalton might or might not have had at the time. One example of this would be number 3 which states that atoms cannot be subdivided, created, or destroyed. Today, we know that atoms can be split up into to smaller particles such as electrons, neutrons, and protons. Dalton’s work was mainly about the chemistry of atoms- how to combined to form new compounds- rather than the physical, internal structure of atoms, although he never denied the possibility of atoms’ having a substructure. Even though this modern atomic theory may not be all entirely

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