CHM 2045C Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Noble Gas, Metalloid, Ion
Document Summary
A scientific law is a summary of observations that combines all past observations into one general statement. You cannot choose to violate a scientific law. A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that is acquired through the scientific method and repeatedly tested and confirmed through observation and experimentation. A good scientific theory explains the causes of scientific laws. Diversity of species and theory of natural selection. Law of conservation of mass and atomic theory. Total mass of reactants= total mass of products. You can never have a fraction of an atom. Law of conservation of mass: in a chemical reaction, matter cannot be created or destroyed (lavoisier). Law of definite proportions: all samples of a given compound, regardless of their source or how they were prepared, have the same proportions of their constituent elements (proust). Each element is composed of tiny, indestructible particles called atoms (comes from greek word atomos meaning indivisible).
