How Did Dalton Contribute To The Atomic Theory

Somewhere in between the years of 460 BC and 370 BC a man named Democritus first introduced the idea of an atom. He was the first person to say that everything is made of atoms. He also said that atoms are indestructible and that the changes we see in substances are just the atoms moving. Democritus said that the shape of the atoms give substances different properties. Democritus’ work, however, did not survive through the Middle Ages. Democritus had no real evidence to prove his theory, but he was close to the truth about atoms. In the year 1803, John Dalton contributed to the Atomic Theory. He came up with his own theory of atoms after researching pressures of gases. Dalton’s theory included that all matter is made of atoms. He said that atoms are indivisible and indestructible. He also theorized that atoms of an element are identical in properties and mass. Dalton stated that compounds are formed by combining two or more different types of atoms. Lastly, Dalton said that a chemical reaction is the rearrangement of atoms. …show more content…
He stated that an atom has a positively charged core and negatively charged particles within the core. He created the Plum Pudding model to represent the positive core and the negative pieces within it. Another philosopher created their own model of an atom. This man was born in 1871 and his name was Ernest Rutherford and he created the Rutherford Atomic model. His “gold foil” experiment was able to disprove JJ Thomson’s Plum Pudding model and prove his own model. His model showed a positive atomic core with electrons floating around the core at some