how were particles we can’t see with our eyes or a microscope discovered?

Question

I don’t get how we discovered particles and that are so small. What could’ve possibly lead to a discovery of it?

In: Physics

Answer 1

people had theorized that matter was made of fundamental particles for a long time, the greeks discussed it. the actual discovery of atoms happened because scientists noticed that when you combined elements into simple compounds (like H2O, CO2, etc.) the proportions of weight of the elements were always small whole number ratios, like 1:2, which suggested that each element was made of particles with a consistent weight and compounds were combining these particles.