John Dalton, the Father of Modern Atomic Theory

Because John Dalton revived the ancient notion of the existence of atoms, he is often referred to as the father of modern atomic theory. 

John Dalton, the Father of Modem Atomic Theory 

John Dalton (1766-1844) was an EngUsh chemist who was well respected by his peers. In 1803, Dalton revived Democritus s theory about atoms. Dalton beUeved that assuming matter is made of atoms offered the best explanation for the laws of chemistry that had recently been discovered, namely the law of conservation of mass in chemical reactions, the law of definite proportions of elements in compounds, and the law of multiple proportions in the ways elements can combine. 

We discussed the law of conservation of mass in Chapter 7. If you recall, this law states that mass is neither created nor destroyed during chemical reactions. For example, consider the combustion of butane in air, as shown  

Suppose we begin with 116.28 grams of butane and 416.00 grams of oxygen gas and let them react until no butane or oxygen molecules remain. If we collect the carbon dioxide and water that form, we will find that we have 352.08 grams of CO, and 180.20 grams of H,0. 

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Named after John Dalton [ [ the father of modern atomic theory, this package is described by the authors (in the program manual) as in many respects an expert s program ... 

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