Fundamental Laws

Of Chemistry
Learning Competencies
• Explain how the basic laws of matter led to the
formulation of Dalton’s Atomic Theory
• Describe Dalton’s atomic theory.
 Matter

Law of
Law of Definite Law of Multiple
Conservation of
Proportions Proportions
Mass
Matter
• Anything that has mass and occupies
space.
• It is made up of atoms.
Fundamental Laws of Chemistry

Law of Conservation of Mass

Law of Definite Proportions

Law of Multiple Proportions

Law of Conservation of Mass
• Antoine Lavoisier’s Law of Conservation of Mass
• States that in a chemical reaction, the mass of the
substances produced is equal to the mass of the
substances reacted.
• This law is the foundation for stoichiometric
calculations, which allow chemists to determine
the amount of reactants or products involved in a
chemical reaction.
Law of Conservation of Mass
Law of Conservation of Mass
Law of Conservation of Mass
Law of Definite Proportions
• Joseph Proust’s Law of Definite Proportions
• States that any sample of a given compound will
always be composed of the same elements in the
same proportion by mass.
Law of Definite Proportions

A 1L of water sample contains 89% oxygen and 11%

hydrogen by mass; 1 gallon of water also contains the
same percentage by mass.
Law of Definite Proportions

A 50g of sugar (glucose) sample contains 53% oxygen,

40% carbon, and 7% hydrogen by mass; 100g of same
compound also contain the same percentage by mass.
Law of Multiple Proportion
• States that for elements that can form different
compounds, the masses of the second element
that can combine with a fixed mass of the first
element are in a ratio of small whole numbers.
Law of Multiple Proportion
Law of Multiple Proportion
• Carbon and oxygen can combine to form two
different compounds – carbon monoxide (CO)
and carbon dioxide (CO2). CO (5g of carbon + 6.7
grams of oxygen; CO2 (5g of carbon + 13.3g of
oxygen). The ratio of masses of oxygen that
combines with the same amount of carbon is
6.7:13.3, or simply about 1:2.
Law of Multiple Proportion
Law of Multiple Proportion
Law of Multiple Proportion
Hydrogen and oxygen can combine to form two different
compounds – Water (H2O) and Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2).

H=1 O=16 H2 + O  H =2 O=16 2:16

H2 + O2  H=2 O=32 2:32
1:2