John+Dalton-1805

John Dalton was born on September 6, 1766 in Eaglesfield, England. He was 88 when he died on July 27, 1844. He was an English chemist, meterologist, and a physicist. Dalton is known for the development of the atomic theory. Dalton was a pioneer for the atom because he was one of the first people to give thought into the atom and what it's properties were. Dalton lived in a time period where little was known of the atom and there was little to hardly any technology to prove his theories. Most of what he concluded were ideas that still hold to be true.

Dalton had 5 main points to his theory: 1. Elements are made of tiny particles called atoms. 2. All atoms of a given element are identical. 3. The atoms of a given element are different from those of any other element; the atoms of different elements can be distinguished from one another by their respective relative atomic weights. 4. Atoms of one element can combine with atoms of other elements to form chemical compounds; a given compound always has the same relative numbers of types of atoms. 5. Atoms cannot be created, divided into smaller particles, nor destroyed in the chemical process; a chemical reaction simply changes the way atoms are grouped together.

Dalton's atomic theory paved the way for chemists and physicists in their understanding of the atom. These 5 rules, which still hold true today, have given rise to the use of atoms; especially knowing that in a chemical reactions the number of atoms will stay the same, their energy just transfered.

Dalton was also responsible for finding the atomic weight of a number of different elements. His discovery of the atomic weights of elements led to the the use of atomic masses in chemical equations which are used every day in science.