Aristotle And The Atomic Theory!

1. Aristotle And The Atomic Theory! By: Kallie, Tina & Courtney

2. The History of Aristotle Aristotle was born in 384 BC. Aristotle's father was a physician to the king of Mecadonia, and when Aristotle was seven years old, his father sent him to study at the Academy. Aristotle was there at the beginning as a student, then became a researcher and finally a teacher. He died in the year, 322 BC.

3. Aristotle’s View of the Atom… • Although the idea of the atom, the smallest, indivisible component of matter, was first proposed in 400 BC, Aristotle didn't like it. He claimed that there was no smallest part of matter and that different substances were made up of proportions of fire, air, earth, and water; which meant he went against the Democritus’ views. As there were of course no experimental means available to test either view, Aristotle's thoughts were correct mainly because people liked his philosophy better. • (Atomic Models from Aristotle to Schroedinger http://improbable.org/era/physics/atom.html, September 20, 2011) “The Greek philosopher Aristotle was influential in the rejection of the concept of the atom.” (Aristotle, Chem 20 textbook, September 20, 2011)

4. Aristotle’s Theory • Aristotle’s theory made a great generalization off all matter being made of the four elements: fire, water, earth, and air. He also believed that there were four qualities to these elements: dryness, hotness, coldness, and moistness. Based on these beliefs fire would hold the characteristics of being dry and hot, water is wet and cold, air is hot and wet, while the earth is dry and cold. • ( Aristotle’s Atomic Theory http://www.universetoday.com/62400/aristotle-atomic-theory/, September 16, 2011)

5. Resources http://www.egs.edu/library/aristotle/biography/ http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0905226.html http://www.universetoday.com/62400/aristotle-atomic-theory/ http://killashandra.tripod.com/Page2.html http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/aris.htm http://improbable.org/era/physics/atom.html