Question

State the various postulates of Dalton's atomic theory of matter.

Answer 1

John Dalton, a British school teacher, published his theory about atoms in 1808. His findings were based on experiments and the laws of chemical combination.

Postulates

1. All matter consists of indivisible particles called atoms.

2. Atoms of the same element are similar in shape and mass but differ from the atoms of other elements.

3. Atoms cannot be created or destroyed.

4. Atoms of different elements may combine with each other in fixed, simple, whole-number ratios to form compound atoms.

5. Atoms of the same element can combine in more than one ratio to form two or more compounds.

6. The atom is the smallest unit of matter that can take part in a chemical reaction.