Which statements are inconsistent with Dalton's atomic theory as ...

Question

Which statements are inconsistent with Dalton's atomic theory as it was originally stated? Why? 
a. All carbon atoms are identical. 
b. An oxygen atom combines with 1.5 hydrogen atoms to form a water molecule. 
c. Two oxygen atoms combine with a carbon atom to form a carbon dioxide molecule. 
d. The formation of a compound often involves the destruction of one or more atoms.

Accepted Answer

Hey everyone in this question, we need to identify the statement that follows Dalton's atomic theory and explain why Statement A. is stating that water is formed when hydrogen oxygen combined in a 1-2. ratio. We want to recall that atoms combine in whole number ratios. And so we would say that therefore this is an inconsistent statement to Dalton's theory. And so we would rule out choice A choice B states that copper can be made from iron atoms. We want to recall that you can't do stuff like this, you can't make atoms of one element from another. And so therefore this is inconsistent with Dalton's atomic theory. So we can rule out Choice B. Moving to statement, see it says that all atoms of zinc have the same mass and properties. And so we would recall that no matter how many atoms of zinc we have in a molecule. This statement is going to be consistent with Dalton's theory because atoms of a given element have the same mass and properties. So this is exactly from Dalton's atomic theory and we would agree with choice C. So we can definitely say it's consistent. Moving onto Choice D. We have carbon and nitrogen atoms have different physical properties but have identical chemical properties. And this statement totally contradicts statements. See statement C. Is consistent with Dalton's theory. Then, statement D. Is definitely going to be inconsistent again, atoms of an of a given element have the same mass and other properties. And so we would rule out choice D. So the only correct choice to complete this example is Choice C. All atoms of a given element, like zinc will have the same mass and other similar properties. So this is in line with Dalton's atomic theory, and this will complete this example as our final answer. If you have any questions, please leave them down below, and I will see everyone in the next practice video.

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