Theory atoms

The dawn of the nineteenth century saw a drastic shift from the dominance of French chemistry to first English-, and, later, German-influenced chemistry. Lavoisier s dualistic views of chemical composition and his explanation of combustion and acidity were landmarks but hardly made chemistry an exact science. Chemistry remained in the nineteenth century basically qualitative in its nature. Despite the Newtonian dream of quantifying the forces of attraction between chemical substances and compiling a table of chemical affinity, no quantitative generalization emerged. It was Dalton s chemical atomic theory and the laws of chemical combination explained by it that made chemistry an exact science. 

For two thousand years atoms were considered the smallest and indivisible units of nature. At the beginning of the nineteenth century Dalton got chemistry on the path of atomic theory with his book, A New System of Chemical Philosophy, in which he argued that unbreakable atoms form compounds by linking with other atoms in simple... 

The concept that all substances are composed of elements and atoms goes back at least 2000 years. Originally, only four elements were recognized air, earth, fire, and water. Each substance was thought to consist of very small particles, called atoms, that could not be subdivided any further. This early mental concept of the nature of matter was extremely prescient, considering there were no experimental results to indicate that matter should be so and none to verify that it was so. Modern atomic theory is much more rigorously based, and we even have the ability to see atoms with special tunneling microscopes. All of chemistry is based on how atoms react with each other. 

Whereas zirconium was discovered in 1789 and titanium in 1790, it was not until 1923 that hafnium was positively identified. The Bohr atomic theory was the basis for postulating that element 72 should be tetravalent rather than a trivalent member of the rare-earth series. Moseley s technique of identification was used by means of the x-ray spectra of several 2ircon concentrates and lines at the positions and with the relative intensities postulated by Bohr were found (1). Hafnium was named after Hafma, the Latin name for Copenhagen where the discovery was made. 

This system of nomenclature has withstood the impact of later experimental discoveries and theoretical developments that have since the time of Guyton de Morveau and Lavoisier greatiy altered the character of chemical thought, eg, atomic theory (Dalton, 1802), the hydrogen theory of acids (Davy, 1809), the duahstic theory (Berzehus, 1811), polybasic acids (Liebig, 1834), Periodic Table (Mendeleev and Meyer, 1869), electrolytic dissociation theory (Arrhenius, 1887), and electronic theory and modem knowledge of molecular stmcture. 

Hume-Rothery (1946) Atomic Theory for Students of Metallurgy (The Institute of Metals, London). 

The oxides of nitrogen played an important role in exemplifying Dalton s law of multiple proportions which led up to the formulation of his atomic theory (1803-8), and they still pose some fascinating problems in bonding theory. Their formulae, molecular structure, and physical appearance are briefly summarized in Table 11.7 and each compound is discussed in turn in the following sections. 

The discovery of hafnium was one of chemistry s more controversial episodes. In 1911 G. Urbain, the French chemist and authority on rare earths , claimed to have isolated the element of atomic number 72 from a sample of rare-earth residues, and named it celtium. With hindsight, and more especially with an understanding of the consequences of H. G. J. Moseley s and N. Bohr s work on atomic structure, it now seems very unlikely that element 72 could have been found in the necessary concentrations along with rare earths. But this knowledge was lacking in the early part of the century and, indeed, in 1922 Urbain and A. Dauvillier claimed to have X-ray evidence to support the discovery. However, by that time Niels Bohr had developed his atomic theory and so was confident that element 72 would be a... 

E. Schrodinger (Berlin) and P. A. M. Dirac (Cambridge) discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory. 

Atom-kem, m. atomic nucleus, -kette,/. chain of atoms, atomic chain, -lage, /. atomic layer atomic position, -lehre, /, doctrine of atoms, atomic theory, -mechanik, /. mechanics of the atom, -modell, n, atomic model, -nummer, /, atomic number, -ord-nung, /. atomic arrangement, -refraktion, /. atomic refraction, -rest, m. atomic residue (= Atomrumpf). -ring, m. ring of atoms, -rumpf, m. atomic residue or core (remainder of an atom, as after removal of some electrons), -schale, /, atomic shell, -strabl, m. atomic ray, -tafel, /, atomic table, atomtbeoretisch, a. of or according to the atomic theory,... 

Urstoff, m. primary matter (formerly) ele ment initial material, -lehre,/. the theory of a primary matter of which the elements are composed atomism, atomic theory. 

In 1808, an English scientist and schoolteacher, John Dalton, developed the atomic model of matter that underlies modem chemistry. Three of the main postulates of modem atomic theory, all of which Dalton suggested in a somewhat different form, are stated below and illustrated in Figure 2.1. 

Dalton s atomic theory explained three of the basic laws of chemistry The law of conservation of mass This states that there is no detectable change in mass in an ordinary chemical reaction. If atoms are con-... 

The law of multiple proportions This law, formulated by Dalton himself, was crucial to establishing atomic theory. It applies to situations in which two elements form more than one compound. The law states that in these compounds. the masses of one element that combine with a fixed mass of the second element are in a rath of small whole numbers. 

The validity of this law depends on the fact that atoms combine in simple, whole-number ratios (postulate 3). Its relation to atomic theory is further illustrated in Figure A. 

Dalton, John, 25,27,266 Dalton s atomic theory, 25 Dalton s law A relation stating that the total pressure of a gas mixture is the sum of the partial pressures of its components, 115,117... 

This proposal is called the atomic theory. As with any theory, its value depends upon its ability to aid us in explaining facts of nature. There is no more valuable theory in science than the atomic theory. We shall use it throughout this course. Later, in Chapter 14, we shall review many of the types of experiments which cause chemists to regard the atomic theory as the cornerstone of their science. 

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