Was Dalton's model wrong?

Answer 1

It is a mistake to call any model of atomic structure right or wrong.

Instead, consider it as accurate for the time period in which it was discovered.

There are parts of Dalton's Atomic Theory that we now know are incorrect. We now know that atoms are divisible instead of these solid spheres with uniform composition as he theorized.

However, there are fault for every atomic theory including the one most commonly used and accepted today. I'm positive that as technology advances and our scientific knowledge increases, a new theory will be developed and that is more accurate than we have now.

The important thing with each of the old theories is that part of the old theories was found to be true and still holds true in all the theories that have come since. Science is not about knowing the answer, but instead wanting to discover the answer and thinking of a process that can be used to find that answer.

Answer 2

Dalton Model

Answer 3

Dalton's model was wrong in several ways.

Dalton did not realize that atoms were made up of smaller particles (protons, neutrons and electrons).

He thought that atoms were small solid sphere-like objects.

He would NOT have known about isotopes - he would have thought that all atoms of the same element are exactly alike.

He also had no concept of the electron structure of atoms.

Dalton's model was replaced by Thomson's "plum pudding" model after the discovery of the electron.

The plum pudding model was replaced by the Rutherford model that had a nucleus.

This was replaced by the Bohr model with the electrons in "orbits" around the nucleus.

This was replaced the quantum-mechanical model (credited mostly to Schroedinger) where there is an electron cloud around the nucleus and individual electrons are said to be in "orbitals" or probable locations around the nucleus.

Answer 4

yes -- Bohr's model was the one that's fairly correct as far as we know ("the wave-mechanical" model).

Dalton's model was, I believe, the "plum-pudding" model and said, incorrectly, that the electrons are just kind of "stuck" to the nucleus, which implies that the atom has no empty space, which we know is false because of Rutherford's gold foil experiment.