DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL RANIPUR

CLASS: IX
SUBJECT: CHEMISTRY
CHAPTER 3: “ATOMS AND MOLECULES”

NOTES: PART 1

1. Laws of Chemical Combination:

i. Law of Conservation of mass: Proposed by the French chemist Antoine Lavoisier
(1774).
Mass can neither be created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction.
Or
For any chemical process in a closed system, the mass of the reactants must be
equal to the mass of the products.
Example: C + O2 = CO2
12g + 32g = 44g

“To satisfy the Law of conservation of mass the chemical equation should be balanced.”

ii. Law of definite proportion: Proposed by Louis Proust (1799).

A chemical compound always consists of the same elements combined together in
the same ratio by mass, irrespective of the method of preparation or the source
from where it is taken.
Example:
• One molecule of compound water always contains same ratio of Hydrogen
and Oxygen by mass.
i.e.
H2O = 2 : 16 = 1 : 8
• Similarly one molecule of carbon dioxide always contains same ratio of
carbon and oxygen by mass.
i.e.
CO2 = 12:32 =3:8

2. Dalton’s Atomic Theory: According to Dalton’s atomic theory, all matter, whether an
element, a compound or a mixture is composed of small particles called atoms. The
postulates of this theory may be stated as follows:
i. All matter is made of very tiny particles called atoms.
ii. Atoms are indivisible particles, which cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical
reaction.
iii. Atoms of a given element are identical in mass and chemical properties.
iv. Atoms of different elements have different masses and chemical properties.
v. Atoms combine in the ratio of small whole numbers to form compounds.
vi. The relative number and kinds of atoms are constant in a given compound.
Drawbacks:
i. Atom is no longer considered as the smallest indivisible particle. Atom has three sub
atomic particles electrons, protons and neutrons.
ii. Atoms of similar element may have different masses and are called isotopes. Eg.
Three isotopes of hydrogen are 11H, 12H and 13H.
iii. Atoms of different element may have same masses and are called isobars. Eg. 18 40Ar
and 2040Ca.
iv. The ratio in which the different atoms combine to form compound may be fixed and
integral but may not be simple.