John Dalton Essay

John Dalton (born September 6th 1766) was an English chemist, meteorologists and physicist. Besides his contributions to the atomic theory he also helped with research with color blindness.
Atomic theory.
In 1800, Dalton became a secretary of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. This was the beginning of his is study into atomic theories.
Gas Laws – John Dalton during 1803 discovered and began research on how different gases such as methane, nitrogen dioxide and nitrous oxide. From looking and evaluating these gases he later discovered that the interaction of atoms of definite characteristics weights. This lead to him researching the physical properties of gases and the atmosphere.
Five Points of Daltons Atomic Theory.
1. Elements are made of extremely small particles called atoms.
2. Atoms of a given element are identical in size, mass, and other properties; atoms of different elements differ in size, mass, and other properties.
3. Atoms cannot be subdivided, created and destroyed.
4. Atoms of different elements combine in simple whole number ratios to form chemical compounds.
5. In chemical reactions, atoms are combined, separated or rearranged.
Dalton's theory was based on the premise that the atoms of different elements could be distinguished by differences in their weights. He stated his theory in a lecture to the Royal Institution in 1803. The theory proposed a number of basic ideas:

All matter is composed of atoms
Atoms cannot be made or destroyed
All atoms of the same element are identical
Different elements have different types of atoms
Chemical reactions occur when atoms are rearranged
Compounds are formed from atoms of the constituent elements.

Using his theory, Dalton rationalized the various laws of chemical combination which were in existence at that time. However, he made a mistake in assuming that the simplest compound of two elements must be binary, formed from atoms of each element in a 1:1 ratio, and his system of atomic weights was not very accurate - he gave oxygen an atomic weight of seven instead of eight.
Despite these errors, Dalton's theory provided a logical explanation of concepts, and led the way into new fields of experimentation.
Dalton’s fascination with

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John Dalton Accomplishments