Dalton's atomic theory and law of multiple proportions
Teoría atómica de Dalton y ley de proporciones múltiples
- Date
- 1803-1808 · confidence high
- Place
- Manchester, England
- Credited to
- John Dalton
- People
- 👤 John Dalton1766–1844
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Each element consists of identical atoms with a characteristic mass; compounds form by the combination of atoms in simple whole-number proportions. Dalton publishes the first table of relative atomic weights in 'A New System of Chemical Philosophy'.
His law of partial pressures (1801) led him to the atomic idea.
What it led to
- Atomic weights
- Chemical formulae
- Modern quantitative chemistry
Built on
- Law of definite proportions1797
- Dalton's law of partial pressures1801-1802
- law of definite proportions
- Boyle and Newton's corpuscularism
Made possible
- Gay-Lussac's law of combining volumes1808
- Avogadro's law1811
- Letter-based chemical symbols and formulas1813
- Isomerism1825-1830
- chemical symbols (Berzelius)
- stoichiometric calculation