Lesson 2.

The Concept of Atom in

Ancient Times
Objective
At the end describe the ideas of the
of the 1 ancient Greeks on the
lesson, you atom.
should be
able to:
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The Atom
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The Subatomic Particles

● Protons – positively charged

● Electrons – negatively charged

● Neutrons – neutrally charged

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What Did People Thought of Then?

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Early days of the Atomic Theory

● 5th Century BC

● Greek Philosophers hypothesized about the composition of

matter

● Some ideas were accepted than the others

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Democritus
• Everything is made up of small
indivisible particles known as
atomos.

Democritus
(460 BC–370 BC)
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Leucippus
● Teacher of Democritus

● Pioneer of the ideas of

composition and
change in matter

Leucippus
(5th century BCE)
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Atomism
● Matter is composed of atomos and void.

● The atomos may combine to form clusters in the void.

● Change can happen when some atoms collide with each

other in the void.
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But not everyone agreed...

• Aristotle thought the the idea of
the atom goes against ex nihilo
and it limits the power of the
gods.
• Aristotle’s nature elements

Aristotle
(384 – 322 BC)
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Atomism Revisited
● The idea of the atom was given importance during the
Renaissance.
● John Dalton formulated his Atomic Theory based on the
atomos.
● Other researches and experiments were conducted
afterwards.
Key Points

Scientific inquiries are very hard to answer in the ancient

1 era because of the lack of appropriate tools.

Ancient Greek philosophers were the first to suggest the

2 concept of the atom.

Democritus and Leucippus were the first Greek scholars

3 who believed in atomism and pioneered the study of the
composition of and changes in matter.
Key Points

According to atomism, nature is composed of two basic

4 principles: atom and void.

The idea of atomism was set aside because of the ideas of

5 prominent natural philosophers like Plato about nature
elements.

However, the Greeks’ concept of atoms and even

6 Aristotle’s arguments were rediscovered and revived after
being proven to be true.
 Check Your Understanding

Identify what is described by the following statements.

1. It is the philosophy which states that nature is composed of

atom and void.
2. He was a Greek philosopher who disregarded Leucippus’ and
Democritus’ ideas on the existence of atoms.
3. It is a Greek word which means indivisible.
 Challenge Yourself

If you were living in the ancient Greek era, what

philosophy will you believe, the atomism or the
natural elements? Why?
 Bibliography

Chang, Raymond. 1997. Chemistry. New York: McGraw-Hill.

McQuarrie, D.A., and Rock, P.A. 1991. General Chemistry. 3rd ed. New York: W.H. Freeman.

Nuffield Foundation. “The Atom—A Quantum Mechanical Model.” Accessed January 5, 2017,
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practical-physics/atom-%E2%80%93-quantum-mechanical-
model.

UC Davis ChemWiki. “Bohr’s Hydrogen Atom.” Accessed January 5, 2017,

http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Core/Physical_Chemistry/Quantum_Mechanics/
09._The_Hydrogen_Atom/ Bohr’s_Hydrogen_Atom.

Weinberg, S. “The Discovery of Subatomic Particles.” W.H. Freeman and Company. Accessed January 5,
2017, http://hep.ucsb.edu/courses/ph225a/ElectronDiscoveryC.pdf.