Did Aristotle Believe In The Existence Of Atom?

In science today there is an understanding of what an atom is and what the atom should look like, but scientists have not always had these answers. A child born in 460 BCE grew to be a great scientist, who formed ideas that would help to develop the understanding of the atom years after his death in 370 BCE. The first time the word “atom” was ever used was when Democritus formed the idea of the existence of atoms. The theory of atomism is a theory that introduced the idea about the substance that makes up the world. Democritus believed that the substance was atoms that were constantly moving around. He held the belief that an atom was a piece of solid matter, too small to see, and too small to be divided into anything smaller. Democritus also

the world of science was added a newborn Aristotle to their list of great scientists. Aristotle helped with many scientific discoveries throughout his science career, such as the development of the scientific method; however, some of the discoveries were not correct. Aristotle did not believe in the existence of atoms because he believed that everything on this planet was made out of the four elements. Aristotle’s belief in the four elements caused Democritus’ idea about atoms to be overlooked for around 2,000 years. In 322 B.C. the world of science lost Aristotle, and it would not be until years later that the idea of atoms would develop

J Thomson was born into the world. Thomson worked with Rutherford to test the effects of x-rays on the conductivity of gas, which helped to further the research scientists had on dividing atoms and molecules into ions. Thomson had begun studying cathode rays and when he passed the rays through a vacuum he noticed that all matter is made up of subatomic particles, meaning they are smaller than atoms. The research that Thomson conducted led to the discovery of the subatomic particles known as the electron. This discovery disproved the idea that atoms ere the smallest fundamental unit of matter. After discovering the electrons, Thomson proved the existence of isotopes in a stable element by channeling a stream of ionized neon through a magnetic and electric field that used deflection techniques to measure the charge to mass ratio. Thomson was able to make many contributions to science before his death on August 30,