РефератыИностранный языкAnAntoine Lavoisier Essay Research Paper Antoine Lavoisier

Antoine Lavoisier Essay Research Paper Antoine Lavoisier

Antoine Lavoisier Essay, Research Paper


Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (lah vwah ZYAY) was one of the


best-known French scientists and was an important government official. His theories of


combustion, his development of a way to classify the elements and the first modern textbook of


chemistry led to his being known as the father of modern chemistry. He contributed to much of


the research in the field of chemistry. He is quoted for saying, “Nothing is lost, nothing is created,


everything is transformed.” Lavoisier was born in Paris, France on Aug. 26, 1743. When he was


eleven years old he attended a college called Mazain. For Lavoisier’s last two years in college he


found a great deal of interest in science. He received an excellent education and developed an


interest in all branches of science, especially chemistry. Abbe Nicolas Louis de Lacaill taught


Lavoisier about meteorological observation. On 1763 Lavoisier received his bachelor’s degree and


on 1764 a licentiate which allowed him to practice his profession. In his spare time he studied


books all about science. His 1st paper was written about gypsum, also known by hydrated calcium


sulfate. He described its chemical and physical properties. He was elected to the French Academy


of Sciences in 1768. On 1771 he married Marie Anne Pierrette Paulze. She helped Lavoisier by


drawing diagrams for his scientific works and translating English notation for him. Unlike earlier


chemists, Lavoisier paid particular attention to the weight of the ingredients involved in chemical


reactions and of the products that resulted. He carefully measured the weights of the reactants and


products. He noted that the weight of the air in which combustion occurred decreases. He found


that when the burning material combined with the air somehow and that the air weighed less.


Lavoisier found that the weight of the products of combustion equals the weight of the reacting


ingredients. This observation became known as the law of conservation of mass (or matter). He


repeated many of the experiments of earlier chemists but interpreted the results far differently. On


1772 he was studying on combustion, which he is most known for in science. Lavoisier presented


an important memoir on conversion of water into earth evaporation. This brought him to the


Oxygen Theory of Combustion. On 1774 Lavoisier carried out experiments on calcinations of tin


and lead and confirmed the increase of weight of metals on calcinations from combustion of air.


By demonstrating the nature of combustion, he disproved the phlogiston theory. The phlogiston


theory stated that all flammable materials contained a substance called phlogiston. According to


this theory, materials gave off phlogiston as they burned. Air was necessary for combustion


because it absorbed the phlogiston that was relea

sed. This was thought at the time to be a fact.


Lavoisier showed this theory to be false and made oxygen the reason that things burned, not


phlogiston. Lavoisier burned textbooks that supported the theory. He was trying to make a point


that the phlogiston theory was invalid and oxygen is the new answer to combustion. He laid the


framework for understanding chemical reactions as combinations of elements to form new


materials, or products. He concluded that combustion results from the rapid chemical union of a


flammable material with a newly discovered gas, which he named “oxygen”, previously known as


“dephilogisticated air.” The word “oxygen” means acid producer. Lavoisier and others had found


that oxygen is a part of several acids. Lavoisier incorrectly reasoned that oxygen is needed to


make all acids. He developed endings of the degree of oxygen by adding certain ending such as -ic


or -ous. With French astronomer and mathematician Pierre Simon Laplace, Lavoisier conducted


experiments on the respiration in animals. Their studies showed a similarity between ordinary


chemical reactions and the processes that happen in living organisms. These experiments were the


basis for the science now known as biochemistry. Lavoisier also helped to develop a system for


naming chemical substances based on their composition. This system is still in use. He made the


very first modern chemistry text named Trait? el?mentaire de chimie (Elements of Chemistry).


Many consider it the first textbook on modern chemistry. Here for the first time the elements are


laid out systematically. His list included many compounds, which were thought to be elements at


the time. Lavoisier worked out reactions in chemical equations that respect the conservation of


mass. As a government official, Lavoisier was successful in creating agricultural reform, serving


as a tax collection official, and overseeing the government’s manufacture of gunpowder. On 1775


he was made commissioner of gunpowder. He was asked to improve the quality of French


gunpowder. This boosted his career. Politically, Lavoisier was a moderate constitutionalist, and


Marat and other radicals hated him because of this. He became involved in the Ferme Generale, a


private tax-collection firm, which became a target during the Terror. When the Reign of Terror


erupted in France, Lavoisier fell victim to its tyranny and France lost one of her greatest scientist.


The leaders of the French Revolution arrested Lavoisier in 1793. In spite of his achievements,


Lavoisier was found guilty of conspiracy with the enemies of France because of his involvement in


tax collection. Nov. 24, 1793 Lavoisier and his 27 other colleagues were guillotined.


http://www.english.upenn.edu/~jlynch/FrankDemo/People/lavois.html 1999 World


Book Encyclopedia http://www.dupont.com/corp/science/lavoisier/antoine.html

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