Question

How does Dalton’s atomic theory account for the fact that when 1.000 g of water is decomposed into its elements, 0.111 g of hydrogen and 0.889 g of oxygen are obtained regardless of the source of water?

Answer 1

To obtain Dalton's atomic theory regardless of the water source, Water is 2 parts Hydrogen(1*2) and 1 part Oxygen(16). We divide 2/18 for hydrogen and 16/18 for Oxygen to get the atomic mass percentage, knowing that the atomic mass of hydrogen is close to 1 and the atomic mass of Oxygen is close to 16. That is from the second part of Dalton's 4 part theory.