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1 Development of the Atomic Model

The technology that enables us to see individual atoms dont show the particles within atoms,
so we use models to describe their structure and behaviour. These models have been
modified over the years, and contribute to the Atomic Theory of Matter.
Democritus, an Ancient Greek philosopher, was the first person recorded to have considered
the presence of atoms. He suggested that if you took any substance and continued to cut it in
half, you would eventually get to a particle that was too small to be divided any further. He
called these indivisible particles atomos atoms. He also suggested that all matter, even
invisible gases, is made up of atoms.
In the early 19th century, over a thousand years later, English chemist John Dalton built on
Democrituss idea of indivisible particles. He also suggested that different substances were
made up of different particles that had specific masses and properties elements. In other
words, the particles that made up gold were different from the particles that made up water.
He used the term atom to describe these tiny particles. Dalton also suggested that these
different atoms could combine in regular ratios to make new substances compounds. Dalton
did not have overwhelming evidence for his hypothesis at this time.
Antoine Lavoisier, a French chemist, made accurate measurements of the composition of
chemical compounds in the 1780s, about 30 years before Daltons theory. It was found that
compounds containing more than one element always had the same relative amounts of each
element. For example, the compound now known as carbon dioxide used to be called fixed
air. This was because it was heavier than air and did not allow other substances to burn in it.
It was discovered that the mass of oxygen in fixed air was always 2.66 times the mass of
carbon in the compound. This is an example of what is now called the law of constant
composition. It was also known that another compound containing carbon and oxygen
existed. This compound always contained 1.33 times as much oxygen as carbon when the
masses of the elements were compared. This compound is now known as carbon monoxide
(CO). Evidence such as this led Dalton to propose the law of simple multiple proportions. It
means that when elements combine, they combine in simple ratios, like 2:1 as in water (H2O),
1:4 as in methane (CH4) or 2:3 as in aluminium oxide (Al2O3).
John Dalton was born in 1766 at Cumberland, England. His older brother Jonathon ran a
Quaker school in Kendall, near the English Lake District. Because Dalton was part of the
Quaker tradition (Quakers did not follow the teachings of the establishment Church of
England), he was not able to attend or teach at an English university. Instead, when he was
27, he taught mathematics and natural philosophy at a college in Manchester. His earlier
scientific work was not particularly successful. His main scientific focus was meteorology (the
study of the atmosphere), and he also produced work on colour blindness, inspired no doubt
by the fact that he was colour-blind. Daltons first chemistry-related work, when he was 35,
was the study of the behaviour of gases in the atmosphere. This work led him to consider the
idea of atoms, and it is this theory for which he is now most remembered. The work of many
other scientists has been built on John Daltons atomic theory. When he died at the age of 77,
after a series of strokes, he was extremely famous and 40 000 people filed past his coffin prior
to his burial. Daltons last act was to allow his eyes to be used for scientific research after his
death. Ironically, his theory about the cause of his own colour blindness was found to be
incorrect. Dalton thought colour blindness was caused by the liquid inside the eyes being the
wrong colour. DNA tests carried out on his preserved eyes 150 years after his death showed
that his colour blindness was caused by a genetic disorder. Summary of Daltons atomic
theory of matter Elements are made up of atoms, which are extremely small particles.

Atoms of each element are different from those of other elements, including their masses.
Atoms of a given element are identical to each other. Chemical compounds are formed when
atoms of one element combine with atoms of other elements in the same fixed proportions.
Atoms cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction