XSIQ
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Chemistry - Dalton

Dalton

The main points of Dalton's atomic theory proposed in 1808 were:

* all matter is made up of extremely small, indivisible particles called
atoms

* all atoms of a given element are identical to each other and have the
same mass

* atoms of one element are different in size and mass from atoms of all
other elements

* atoms are indestructible and merely arrange themselves during chemical
reactions

* atoms of different elements combine in simple whole-number ratios to
form chemical compounds. For a particular compound, they always combine in
the same ratio by mass

Dalton's atomic theory, based on years of experimentation, was consistent
with the ever-increasing range of chemical reactions being identified at
the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Dalton's theory also linked nicely with two fundamental laws of chemistry
- the 'law of conservation of mass' and the 'law of definite proportions'.


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