This was done by passing the mixture of gases through a solution of alkali, which absorbed the carbon dioxide but left behind the nitrogen gas.Ĭavendish prepared nitrogen gas by this means. The crucial experiment in the discovery of nitrogen was when it was realized that there are at least two different kinds of suffocating gases in this mephitic air. This noxious mixture no longer supports life and so was called mephitic. If the oxygen in an enclosed quantity of air is used up, either by burning a candle in it or by confining an animal, most of the oxygen is converted to carbon dioxide gas which mixes with the nitrogen gas present in the air. This is where the confusion with nitrogen gas begins, since pure nitrogen gas is also suffocating to animals. This name obviously came from its property of destroying life, since it rapidly suffocates any animals immersed in it. It could be released from its stony prison by the action of heat or acids.Ĭarbon dioxide was also known by the name 'mephitic air' – the word mephitic meaning noxious or poisonous. Black called carbon dioxide 'fixed air' since it was thought to be locked up or fixed in certain minerals such as limestone. He also studied the gas we now call carbon dioxide, which had first been prepared by the Scottish chemist Joseph Black in the 1750s. ![]() Cavendish called the gas inflammable air from the metals in recognition of this most striking property. Hydrogen was more carefully prepared and collected by the brilliant but reclusive millionaire scientist, Henry Cavendish about a 100 years later. So inflammable it was that upon the approach of a lighted candle to it, it would readily enough take fire and burn with a bluish and somewhat greenish flame. ![]() Robert Boyle noted in 1670 that when acid was added to iron filings, the mixture grew very hot and belched up copious and stinking fumes. We can only really make sense of the discovery of nitrogen by also noting the discovery of some of these other gases. It wasn't really until the 18 th Century that people focussed their attention on the chemistry of the air and the preparation properties of different gases. The other elements in its group – phosphorus, arsenic, antimony and bismuth – had all been discovered, used and abused at least a 100 years before nitrogen was known about. ![]() It's by far the most abundant element in its group in the periodic table and yet it is the last member of its family to be discovered. Nitrogen gas makes up about 80% of the air we breathe. Hello! This week, we're blowing up airbags, asphyxiating animals and getting to the bottom of gun powder because Cambridge chemist, Peter Wothers has been probing the history of nitrogen.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |