Atom? Why Is It So Important To Understand What The Atom Is?

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We see our modern world filled with so many advances with technology and science. We usually do not think about science when using a smart phone or google to find information with one click of a button. Do we think about Chemistry when taking an antibiotic medication for an infection? Just about everything involves science and technology, but what would happen if one scientist didn’t discover one theory, a theory that can alter our advance society as we know today. This one man was credited as the founder of chemistry. “Chemistry is a branch of physical science that studies the composition, structure, properties and change of matter” (Wikipedia, 2014). “Chemistry is chiefly concerned with atoms and molecules and their interactions and transformation” …show more content…

Most of us , have an understanding of the atom as a monstrous tool used for War. It wasn 't until we get into our science or philosophy classes; we begin to understand the atom. What is an Atom? Why is it so important to understand what an atom is? The word “Atom” comes from the Greek Era, meaning “Uncuttable or Indivisible” (Wikipedia, 2014). When you hear the phrase Greek and Atom, the first name that comes to mind is Democritus. Greek philosopher Democritus, stated “that all matter and space was made up of tiny particles called atoms” (Schombert, Wikipedia, 2014). Atoms are important to understand because everything, meaning matter is made up of Atoms, therefore understanding Atoms will help us understand everything …show more content…

The definition of the “Atomic Theory is a theory of the nature of matter: all material, substances are composed of minute particles or atoms of a comparatively small number of kinds and all the atoms of the same kind are uniform in size, weight, and other properties” (Merriam-Webster). When you hear the words “Atomic Theory," you associate words and people such as the Atom with the Greek philosopher Democritus, motion with Isaac Newton, the Periodic Table with Dmitri Mendeleev, “The Manhattan Project” with Albert Einstein (Buescher, 1996) but does John Dalton come across when talking about the “Atomic Theory” ? Not likely, unless you have taken a college level science or chemistry class. John Dalton is one man that made a great impact in the field of chemistry. Without his contribution to the “Atomic Theory," our modern technology and science would not be the same. Without John Dalton, we will never know if G.J Stoney was able to discover the “Electron” or Wilhm Roentgen discovers the “X-Ray," or Marie Slodwka Curie discovers the “Radioactivity," Albert Einstein discovers the “E=MC^2," or the completion of the “Periodic Table” by Dmitri Mendeleev (Buescher,

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