• DOI:10.1002/cphc.200700707
• Corpus ID: 10969136

Dalton's disputed nitric oxide experiments and the origins of his atomic theory.

@article{Usselman2008DaltonsDN,
  title={Dalton's disputed nitric oxide experiments and the origins of his atomic theory.},
  author={Melvyn C. Usselman and Derek G. Leaist and Katherine D. Watson},
  journal={Chemphyschem : a European journal of chemical physics and physical chemistry},
  year={2008},
  volume={9 1},
  pages={
          106-10
        }
}

• M. Usselman, D. G. Leaist, K. Watson
• Published 11 January 2008
• Physics
• Chemphyschem : a European journal of chemical physics and physical chemistry

In 1808 John Dalton published his first general account of chemical atomic theory, a cornerstone of modern chemistry. The theory originated in his earlier studies of the properties of atmospheric gases. In 1803 Dalton discovered that oxygen combined with either one or two volumes of nitric oxide in closed vessels over water and this pioneering observation of integral multiple proportions provided important experimental evidence for his incipient atomic ideas. Previous attempts to reproduce Dalton's experiments have been unsuccessful and some commentators have concluded the results were fraudulent. We report a successful reconstruction of Dalton's experiments and provide an analysis exonerating him of any scientific misconduct. But we conclude that Dalton, already thinking atomistically, adjusted experimental conditions to obtain the integral combining proportions.