When was the atom first discovered? - KylieEllie

 The ancient Greek philosopher Democritus created the term “atomos”, which means indivisible, or uncuttable around 400 BCE. He believed that everything is made of something else, and could be divided until it reached the smallest unit possible, the atom. However, there was no way to test his theory. It took centuries, and many scientists to discover the knowledge of the atom that we have today.

• English chemist John Dalton created the first atomic weight chart in 1803.
• JJ Thompson, a British physicist, discovered the electron in 1897.
• A New Zealand physicist, Ernest Rutherford discovered the nucleus in 1911 and proved the existence of protons in 1917.
• British physicist Sir James Chadwick discovered neutrons in 1932.

Read more about Democritus and his atomic theory at https://www.famousscientists.org/democritus/

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