ATOMS: Ancient Indian and Greek Philosophers

Foundations of Chemical Sciences

• The scientist who laid the foundation of chemical sciences by establishing two important laws of chemical combination is unknown from the given text.

Laws of Chemical Combination

• The law of conservation of mass states that matter cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction.
• The law that states many compounds were composed of two or more elements and each compound had the same elements in the same proportions is the law of definite proportions.

Atomic Theory

• The Indian philosopher who postulated the concept of Parmanu (atoms) is unknown from the given text.
• Democritus named the indivisible particles as atoms.
• Ancient Indian philosophers considered the divisibility of matter.
• Dalton picked up the name "atoms" for the basic units of matter.

Development of Atomic Theory

• By the end of the eighteenth century, Antoine Lavoisier recognized that matter cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction.
• It was suggested that if matter is divided, a stage will come when particles obtained cannot be divided further.

Explore the concept of divisibility of matter and the ancient Indian philosopher Maharishi Kanad's postulation about the smallest particles in this quiz.