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Prout's Hypothesis




Prout's hypothesis remained influential in chemistry throughout the 1820s. However, more careful measurements of the atomic weights, such as those compiled by Jöns Jakob Berzelius in 1828 or Edward Turner in 1832, disproved the hypothesis. In particular the atomic weight of Chlorine , which is 35.45 times that of hydrogen, could not be explained in terms of Prout's hypothesis.


REFERENCES


  • William Prout (1815). On the relation between the specific gravities of bodies in their gaseous state and the weights of their atoms. ''Annals of Philosophy'', 6: 321–330. Online reprint


  • William Prout (1816). Correction of a mistake in the essay on the relation between the specific gravities of bodies in their gaseous state and the weights of their atoms. ''Annals of Philosophy'', 7: 111–13. Online reprint