Question

Who originated the greek word “atomos” which means indivisible?
(A) Rutherford
(B) Thomson
(C) Aristotle
(D) Democritus

Answer 1

Hint: We will be looking way back towards the history of atoms or which we call it as Atomism or Atomic theory. We will also look back upon the Greek philosophers and their literature.

Complete step by step answer:
So, as we all know, an atom is the smallest building structure of matter and it consists of protons, neutrons and electrons.
When we talk about atoms, it goes way back to the $ 500BC $ when the idea that the matter is made up of discrete units was brought up in many ancient cultures such as Greece and India. The word atomos, which means uncuttable, was tossed by the Pre-Socratic Greek Philosophers Leucippus and his pupil Democritus. Democritus thought that there are an infinite number of atoms that are uncreated and which are eternal. He also proposed that the qualities of an object resulted from the kind of atoms that compose it.
After that the word atomos was forgotten and finally during the $ {{12}^{th}} $ century, it resurfaced in the newly rediscovered writings of Aristotle. And as we all know that from centuries, studies and experimentations have been carried out and finally, today we all call it an atom, which is the building block of all the materials.
Therefore, the answer we are looking for is option (D) Democritus.

Note:
It was centuries later when John Dalton compiled experimental data gathered by him and other scientists were able to describe the word atom. It was way before him when Democritus gave the word atomos.