Answer to Question #31538 in Physical Chemistry for Chantel Campbell

Question

List 4 main points of daltons atomic theory

Answer 1

Dalton's Atomic Theory

1) All matter is made of atoms. Atoms are indivisible and indestructible.

2) All atoms of a given element are identical in mass and properties

3) Compounds are formed by a combination of two or more different kinds of atoms.

4) A chemical reaction is a rearrangement of atoms.

Modern atomic theory is, of course, a little more involved than Dalton's theory but the essence of Dalton's theory remains valid. Today we know that atoms can be destroyed via nuclear reactions but not by chemical reactions. Also, there are different kinds of atoms (differing by their masses) within an elements that are known as "isotopes", but isotopes of an element have the same chemical properties.