John Dalton Research Paper

1167 Words3 Pages

John Dalton (1799-1844) created a new system of chemical philosophy which enhanced the knowledge of the atom to its modern day understanding. His atomic theory consisted of 4 key points. Firstly, that all matter is composed of atoms, that are the indivisible building blocks of matter which cannot be created nor destroyed in an isolated system. Secondly, all atoms of an element are identical and atoms of different elements vary in size and mass which claims that atoms of given elements are identical in size, mass, boiling points, melting points, electronegativities and other properties meanwhile different elements differ in these areas but no two elements have the same exact set of properties. Thirdly, compounds are produced through different …show more content…

Dalton stated that atoms form elements meaning different elements would have atoms of different properties. He went on to believe that atoms did not have the ability to be created, divided or destroyed by a chemical process but the discovery of nuclear fusion and nuclear fission made amendments to his principle. ("Famous Scientists - John Dalton", 2017) These two reactions cause the particles found within a nucleus to release energy due to the attendance of high-powered atomic bonds. Nuclear fission has the ability to split an atom into two or more smaller, lighter atoms while fusion creates a larger, heavier atom when two or more fuse together. ("Nuclear Fission and Fusion - Difference and Comparison | Diffen", 2017) Isotopes are atoms of a chemical element with the same atomic number, positioning in the periodic table and essentially duplicate chemical behaviours but different atomic masses and physical properties. All elements have either one of more isotope which has a contradicting assumption towards John Dalton’s theory as he stated that all atoms of an element are identical and atoms of different elements vary in properties. This clashes with the use of isotopes as they vary in atomic mass and physical properties meanwhile have the same atomic number, positioning in the period table. ("isotope …show more content…

Although Rutherford claimed what an atom consisted of, his model was unstable due to the curved path the particles were moving in. This path emits electromagnetic radiation meaning electrons lose energy which causes them to spiral into the nucleus. Based on this Neil Bohr made modifications into Ernest Rutherford’s model by establishing a fixed size and energy that the electrons orbit in. Neil Bohr constructed his atomic model which was the first to be based on quantum theory. He described all the properties of an electron and how atoms absorb emitted radiation when the electrons jump between states of orbit. Depending on the size of an electron orbits the size of the jump also varies. A stable state is reached by the smallest orbit as there is no orbit of lower energy in which an electron has the ability to jump to. ("Bohr Atomic Model",

More about John Dalton Research Paper

Open Document