Tuesday, August 31, 2010

some information on John Dalton

John Dalton:

  • known for pioneering work of modern atomic theory and research into color blindness
  • he was color blind
  • atomic theory- that matter is divided into small units called atoms
  • Five main points of Dalton's atomic theory:
    • Atoms from an element are different fromthe of any other element.
    • All atoms of an element are identical.
    • Atom of 1 element can combine with other elements to make chemical compounds
    • Atoms can't be created, divided, or destroyed
    • Elements are made of atoms
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dalton

Homework Question-August 31

Question: How did Rutherford differ from Democritus in his use of the scientific method to discover more about the nature of the atom??

My Answer: Well, Rutherford did the "Gold Foil experiment" to figure out that an atom has a nucleus and  most of an atom's mass is in its nucleus. He used the results from his experiment to draw a conclusion. But, Democritus probably didn't have the technology in 430 BCE to conduct an experiment and draw the type of conclusions that Rutherford could in 1911. That's the difference between Rutherford's use of the scientific method and Democritus'.