Description:
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Molecular weights were of no interest to
chemists until the advent of John Dalton’s
(figure 1) atomic theory in the first decade of
the 19th century, when they became relevant in
two distinct ways. The first of these has to do
with the fact that calculation of a compound’s
compositional formula using atomic weights
and gravimetric composition gives information
on only the relative number of each atom present,
rather than the total number.1 Curiously
this distinction does not appear to have been
appreciated by Dalton. |