who came up with the theory that atoms are the smallest pieces of matter?

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who came up with the theory that atoms are the smallest pieces of matter?

2007-12-01 06:23:31 · 3 answers · asked by frog girl 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry

3 answers

It is typically credited to Democritus of Thrace, and also to his teacher Leucippus, around the year 450 BC.

2007-12-01 06:31:53 · answer #1 · answered by lithiumdeuteride 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋

John Dalton is generally credited with the modern understanding that the atom is the smallest piece of matter. The Greek philosophers had no evidence or real concept of the idea.

2007-12-01 06:36:03 · answer #2 · answered by hcbiochem 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋

Democritus philosophized that the atom (atomos in Greek meaning indestructable) are the smallest pieces of matter but ultimately Dalton, Thomson etc really proved this with the quantitative analyses and gold foil experiment.

2007-12-01 06:37:15 · answer #3 · answered by [ $$$ ) 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋