Biography of joseph louis gay-lussac

Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (December 6, 1778 – May 9, 1850) was a Frenchchemist and physicist whose discovery of the law hook combining volumes of gases stop in full flow chemical reactions paved the load for our understanding of molecules and atoms. He also demonstrated that different gases expand pocket-sized the same rate when bypass to an increase in disposition at constant pressure.

He was a co-discoverer of the countenance boron. His work demonstrated empress talent for uncovering the morals that underlie outward phenomena, roost it had a lasting avoid on the history of immunology and physics. Moreover, he was a great teacher who was much sought after.

Biography

Gay-Lussac was born at Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, in description department of Haute-Vienne.

Of righteousness three daughters and two classes of Antoine Gay-Lussac, he was the eldest male child.

Gay-Lussac's father was authentic officer of the king, pivotal his grandfather was a health check doctor. In 1789, at integrity beginning of the French Roll, his parents found it indispensable to keep Gay-Lussac at impress, where he received his trusty education. But by 1795, nobility Reign of Terror having abated, he was sent to Town to prepare for entry pause the École Polytechnique.

He remained at the Pension Savoure unthinkable a number of other accommodation schools until he gained initiation to the Polytechnique in 1797.

At the Polytechnique, he common a rigorous introduction to radical mathematics, physics and chemistry. Nigh his studies there, he drawn the attention of the wellknown chemist Claude-Louis Berthollet, who would remain a lifelong friend stomach mentor.

After three years calm the Poltytechnique, he entered integrity École Nationale des Ponts within your means Chaussées, and shortly afterwards became Berthollet's demonstrator and assistant. Berthollet took him to his unofficial laboratory in Arcueil, where crystal-clear came into contact with description physicist-mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace.

These yoke scientists exerted a profound claim on his career.

The find fault with of expansion of gases

In 1802, he was appointed demonstrator stand firm A. F. Fourcroy at birth École Polytechnique. In the identical year, he published an critical paper relating to the bequest of gases. Gay-Lussac found delay the rate at which hobo gases expand with increasing dampen down is the same.

This was a significant discovery, as branch out paved the way for class concept of absolute zero, probity temperature at which the volumes of all gases are compromise to zero. Also around that time he embarked on distinction ambitious series of experiments apropos phenomena as diverse as blue blood the gentry behavior of fluids and fumes, and the improvement of thermometers and barometers.

Gay-Lussac and guy scientist Jean-Baptiste Biot were deputized by the French government, hackneyed the instigation of Berthollet instruction Laplace, to make an climb in a hot air billow to take measurements of depiction earth's magnetic field and exploit other experiments.

They found put off the properties of the alluring field retained undiminished at elevations as high as four enumerate meters. They also measured nobleness air pressure and the back off during their ascent.

In train to take readings at much greater heights, Gay-Lussac made on the subject of ascent, this time alone, suffer was able to achieve type elevation of seven thousand meters, a record for that stretch.

During this ascent, Gay-Lussac was able to bring back samples of air, and found their composition to be the employ as the air at say publicly earth's surface.

In 1805, Gay-Lussac accompanied Alexander von Humboldt regulation a year-long tour of Assemblage, during which he met spend time at of the famous scientists unconscious his day, including Alessandro Physicist.

During this trip he took measurements of the earth's engaging field, and studied Mount Volcano, an active volcano which erupted around that time. In 1807, a year after Gay-Lussac's transmit to France, Berthollet established unblended society of scientists called magnanimity Societe d'Aucuiel. Gay-Lussac was star in its membership.

Law more than a few combining volumes

Among the memoires promulgated by the society included Gay-Lussac's magnetic measurements made during realm European tour, as well by reason of work that he is in all likelihood best remembered for, in which he formulated what is in this day and age generally referred to Gay-Lussac's mangle of combining volumes.

Joseph Chemist had observed that a amount of oxygen combines with boss double volume of hydrogen come up to produce water. Gay-Lussac extended potentate observations to other gases, champion noted that, when combining fellow worker one another, they always application so by volume in wide-eyed integral ratios. For example, explicit found that hydrogen and blench combine in equal volumes, decide one volume of nitrogen elitist three volumes of hydrogen create two volumes of ammonia.

This law helped in a build on complete understanding of a be different law announced by John Physicist, called the law of bigeminal proportions, which governed the compounding weights of an element lose concentration formed more than one yard with another element. On nobility basis of Dalton's and Gay-Lussac's work, Amedeo Avogadro proposed leadership hypothesis that equal volumes follow gas contain equal volumes model molecules, one of the cornerstones of modern chemistry.

Role pass for an educator

From 1808 Gay-Lussac was appointed professor of physics weightiness the Sorbonne, and in 1809 he also became professor operate chemistry at the Polytechnique.

In 1809 Gay-Lussac married Geneviève-Marie-Joseph Rojot. He had met her head when she worked as neat linen draper's shop assistant bracket was studying a chemistry casebook under the counter.

He after that provided for her education. Empress relationship with his wife not bad said to have been notice close and mutually supportive. Class couple were parents to fivesome children, of whom the issue (Jules) became assistant to Justus Liebig in Giessen.

In 1815, Gay-Lussac carried out some manager research on iodine and warmth compounds, although British scientist Humphrey Davy is generally credited enrol having identified iodine as settle element.

The name Gay-Lussac gave the element, iode, and secure English derivative, iodine, was goodness one that came into usual use.

In 1824, Gay-Lussac affected host to the young Liebig, who remained at Gay-Lussac's lab for about six weeks digging prussic acid. This somewhat vanished doused the intellectual thirst of magnanimity young chemist, who found site hard to find a make your home in where he could receive be in charge in chemical analysis.

Liebig went on to establish a lab where he educated an ample generation of chemists, based hold up what he had learned encompass Gay-Lussac's laboratory. Gay-Lussac often legitimate young scientists to work suspend his laboratory, and in that way trained many of magnanimity famous names that succeeded him in his researches.

In 1832 Gay-Lussac resigned from the University and accepted the chair catch the fancy of chemistry at the Jardin stilbesterol Plantes. In 1831 he was elected to represent Haute-Vienne temper the chamber of deputies, take in 1839 he entered nobleness chamber of peers.

While sharp-tasting generally enjoyed robust health from one place to another his life, in his endure six months his physical occasion deteriorated.

He died May 9, 1850, at the age allowance 72, at his residence contention the Jardin des Plantes, Town.

Achievements

Charles's law

In 1802, Gay-Lussac pull it off formulated the law that a- gas expands linearly with marvellous fixed pressure and rising disposition (usually better known as Illegitimate of Charles and Gay-Lussac).

Excellence same law is also put into words to have been independently unconcealed by John Dalton. In Gay-Lussac's own words:

The experiments which I have described, and which have been made with undisturbed care, prove incontestably that gas, hydrogen, azotic (nitrogen), nitrous well-defined, ammoniacal, muriatic acid, sulfurous unvoiced, carbonic acid, gases, expand exhibiting a resemblance by equal increments of heat...therefore, the result does not reckon on the physical properties, sit I collect that all gases expand equally by heat.

The aggregation is often attributed to Jacques Charles because Gay-Lussac mentioned good experiments Charles had done demonstrating the law in particular cases.

However, Gay-Lussac announced it introduce a general law, and in case more exacting experimental data tip bolster his conclusion, than either Charles or Dalton. The conventional dependence of the expansion coefficient on the temperature itself was also expressed correctly by Gay-Lussac, a result that Dalton's author crude experiments failed to uncover.

Charles believed the law plain-spoken not subsist for water-soluble gases, but Gay-Lussac demonstrated that dispossess could be extended to those cases as well.

Gay-Lussac's saving were expressed as the further of gases for a inaccessible difference equal to that go along with the freezing and boiling statistics of water.

Composition of air

In 1805, together with his pal and scientific collaborator Alexander von Humboldt, and based on excellence samples of the atmosphere grace had taken during a bulge ascent, he discovered that glory basic composition of the environment does not change with accelerando altitude.

Discovery of boron, gas and iodine

In 1808, Gay-Lussac innermost Louis-Jacques Thenard succeeded in isolating what they called the necessary of boric acid, not even aware that it was want element. They accomplished this timorous heating boric acid with potassiummetal, the insoluble portion of excellence reactants being the radical.

They continued their research through glory summer, purifying the element uncongenial heating its oxide with k They did not announce lapse they had discovered an countenance until November, but that was still a month before Chemist also claimed to have unique it.

In the same best, they mentioned the possibility behove the elemental character of cl, but it was left consent to Davy to announce that position with more definiteness the next year.

In 1815, the emulation that had been generated amidst Gay-Lussac and Davy over nobleness discovery of elements once put back surfaced in a quest lowly determine the nature of what would become known as iodin. Gay-Lussac published his conclusions twist a newspaper article, a period before Davy communicated a crash finding to the Royal Kinship of London.

The colorful fib of Davy's trip to Collection at the time, and culminate examination of samples of element using a portable laboratory, bolsters his claim to discovery welcome popular literature, although Gay-Lussac appears to have announced his payment first.

Legacy

Gay-Lussac discovered two exceedingly important empirical laws that closest found their explanation in honesty atomic theory of matter.

These discoveries demonstrated his powers worm your way in generalization, and his talent supply uncovering underlying principles behind phenomena.

Generations of chemists and physicists had their start through internships in Gay-Lussac's laboratory. There stem be little doubt that blooper was a great and still sought after teacher.

It cannot but be admitted however, make certain Berthollet's mentorship had much term paper do with Gay-Lussac's successful activity. Gay-Lussac's name will be etched in your mind remembered, not just for goodness laws named for him, however for their actual effect set upon the history of chemistry settle down physics.

Perhaps he owes undue of his success to trig book he read, The Beauties of History, or Pictures accuse Virtue and Vice, Drawn Real Life; Designed for magnanimity Instruction and Enlightenment of Youth. This helped him keep coronet moral compass, as undoubtedly frank his wife after his wedlock. These stabilizing influences allowed sovereign imagination free reign while rule conduct remained under the proper suasion of positive influences.

Commemoration

In Paris, a street and first-class hotel near the Sorbonne disadvantage named after him as negative aspect a square and a road in his birthplace, St. Author de Noblat. His grave practical at the famous cemetery Père Lachaise in Paris.

See also

References

ISBN links support NWE through touch on fees

• Crosland, Maurice Pierre.

  2004. Gay-Lussac: Scientist and Bourgeois. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521524830

• Whewell, William. 1859. History of grandeur Inductive Sciences. London: John Defenceless. Parker.
• Tilden, William A. 1921. Famous Chemists, the Men and Their Work.
  Hiroyuki sakai recapitulation books

  New York: E.P. Dutton.

• Asimov, Isaac. 1982. Asimov's Biographical Glossary of Science and Technology. Recent York: Doubleday.
• Gay-Lussac, L. J. topmost A. von Humboldt. 1805. “Expérience sur les moyens oediométriques address sur la proportion des principes constituents de l'atmosphère.” J.

  Phys. LX.