An atom is the smallest unit of an element that can participate in a chemical change.
In the fifth century BC, Leucippus and Democritus argued that all matter was composed of small, finite particles that they called atomos, a term derived from the Greek word for “indivisible.” They thought of atoms as moving particles that differed in shape and size, and which could join together. The earliest recorded discussion of the basic structure of matter comes from ancient Greek philosophers, the scientists of their day.
Use postulates of Dalton’s atomic theory to explain the laws of definite and multiple proportionsĪtomic Theory through the Nineteenth Century.
State the postulates of Dalton’s atomic theory.