Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac

French chemist

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Joseph Louis Gay Lussac, French chemist. He was born in Saint Leonard on December 6, 1778, and died in Paris on May 9, 1850. Joined in 1797 Paris Polytechnic School study. Graduated in 1800, French chemist C- L. berthollet Ask him to work as an assistant in his private laboratory. In 1802, he served as a tutor in the Paris Comprehensive Engineering School, and later as a professor of chemistry. Elected in 1806 French Academy of Sciences academician. In 1809 Sorbonne University Professor of Physics. France in 1832 Natural History Museum Professor of Chemistry.^{[1 ]}

Chinese name: Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac
Foreign name: Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac
Nationality: France
date of birth: December 6, 1778

Date of death: May 9, 1850
University one is graduated from: Paris Polytechnic School
Occupation: chemist
Key achievements: Gay Lussac law
one's native heath: Saint Leonard

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Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac , French chemist. Born on December 6, 1778, in Saint Leonard, Haute Viena Province; He died in Paris on May 9, 1850. Geluzak was the son of a judge. When he was young, he was in the berthollet 、 Guton de Movo And Falkla. Geluzak received special care and encouragement from Bertolet in the school, and soon he and Bertolet's son bleached with chlorine Linen Factory work of products. His performance soon proved that he was completely worthy of Bertole's friendship. In 1802, he proved that all kinds of gases expand in the same amount as the temperature rises. Charlie made the same discovery years before him, but He did not have. Publicity, so this phenomenon is often called Geluzak's law 。 This is a very important discovery. Avogadro used it to express his long neglected hypothesis 10 years later, which is that different gases contain the same content at the same temperature Number of particles 。 In 1804, the young Geluzak carried out a balloon lift off experiment with Yoyo, and later he did it again himself. These tests are the first balloon launching tests for scientific investigation. In one such flight, Geluzak made the balloon reach a height of 4 miles, exceeding The Alps The height of the peak. He found that neither the composition of air nor the magnetic force of the earth changed at such a height. At that time, Britain was European powers China continues to intend to destroy Napoleon's vanguard. Britain is also the center of amazing progress in chemistry, which is attributed to David *, who separated many new elements by using electricity in 1807 and 1808. In the rise of the French Revolution nationalism It became quite strong, and they consciously intended to use science to enhance the prestige of the country. Napoleon It provided funds for Guy Lussac and his old friend and colleague Taina Fishery to build a large battery as a huge power source so that France could fill the "element gap". The battery proved unnecessary. Geluzak and Tanayoun used an element potassium made by David himself to fill in the element gap without electricity. They treat it with potassium Boron oxide B was obtained when the element form of B was obtained for the first time. On June 21, 1808, they announced this achievement. David was nine days later than them. He announced on June 30 that he had isolated boron independently. Napoleon won a scientific victory, and Geluzak was appointed Sorbonne University He taught until 1832. Geluzak made many more important discoveries. In 1809, he found that when several gases formed compounds, they were combined according to the volume ratio, which can be expressed as a very small integer ratio. For example, two parts of hydrogen and one part of oxidized synthetic water; 1 part hydrogen and 1 part chlorinated hydrogen chloride; Three parts of hydrogen and one part of nitrided synthetic ammonia. This combination according to the volume ratio (also a form of the law of fixed length--- Translation and annotation ）It has been studied out that this achievement includes the help of the versatile Humboldt *. This relationship between the volume of elements in the compound can be used to determine Atomic weight That's what Bai Zeli did. However, Dalton * refused to accept the results of Geluzac. He insisted that the principle of composition could only be used for weight, and that the atomic weight measured by Geluzac was still wrong. The Avogadro hypothesis is still used to explain the Geluzak law, but this law has been ignored for half a century. Later, Gay Lussac carried out a series of studies on various cyanide compounds, and finally came to the conclusion that hydrocyanic acid or Hydrogen cyanide Oxygen free. This research finally proved that acid can not contain oxygen, and at least confirmed that Lavoisier * is wrong in this respect (on this basis, people came to the conclusion that hydrogen is the main component of acid). Geluzak also further studied the iodine discovered by Kutuva *, proving that it is a new element. He is an analytical chemist arsenal A new technology has been added, which is the application of alkali and Titrimetry (Strictly according to the same Thénard Their analytical techniques were used to determine for the first time the Element composition 。） In 1831, Guy Lussac in Louis Philippe's Organ newspaper He was elected to the French House of Commons under the regime, and in 1839 he entered Upper House , as a legislator Spent his old age.

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Gay Lussac studied the composition of air in 1805. In an experiment, he confirmed that water can be made with oxygen and hydrogen in the ratio of 1 ∶ 2 by volume. In 1808, he proved that a certain proportion of volume not only exists in the gases participating in the reaction, but also exists in the reactant And Product It also exists between. On December 31, 1809, Guy Lussac published his discovery Law of combined volume of gases （ Gay Lussac law ）, in chemistry Atomic and molecular theory Has played an important role in the history of development. He discovered it in 1802 Law of gas thermal expansion 。 Iodine was named in 1813. Cyanide was discovered in 1815, and its nature as an organic group was clarified. In 1827, it was proposed to build sulfuric acid Waste gas absorption tower , which was not applied until 1842, called Guy Lusaka Tower 。

In his time, alchemy Gay Lussac also exerted great influence on chemistry. With his fearless scientific spirit, he made great efforts to explore, which helped people get rid of many wrong views and promoted the further development of chemistry. Gay Lussac first discovered the law of the combined volume of gases, and also invented new preparation methods of alkali metals such as potassium and sodium, and then discovered new elements such as boron and iodine, making great achievements in chemistry. Due to the outstanding achievements of Guy Lussac, France became the largest Science Center 。

Life story

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Joseph Louis Gay Lussac (1778-1850) , French physicist Chemistry Home. He was born in France on December 6, 1778 Limoges The town of San Leonal in the region. Guy Lussac's father was a local prosecutor, and their family was relatively wealthy in the local area. However, when Gay Lussac was 11 years old, France broke out in 1739 Bourgeois revolution 。 Soon, the revolutionary wave hit the family. In 1793, his father was arrested on suspicion. Familial social position And economic life. Gai Lussac only received primary education in the local area, and later came to Paris. In 1797, he entered the Paris Industrial School to study. The reason why he chose this school is that all students in this school enjoy financial aid, which can reduce the burden of families, and the school academic level Higher, many famous experts and scholars are teaching here. image Bettore Such a famous chemist will be taught here Organic chemistry Courses. Guy Lussac was appreciated by some professors such as Bertore because of his diligence and love of chemistry and experimental technology.

He graduated from the Paris Institute of Technology in 1800, and Bertore left him as his assistant. Through his daily work, the old professor found that the student was quick in thinking and had high experimental skills. He was convinced that he had found a promising young man. So he safely handed over his laboratory to the young Gai Lussac and asked the young man to assist him scientific research Work. Guy Lussac attaches great importance to Scientific observation And experiments. He always takes it seriously experimental data Record them one by one in time. Whenever he sits down, he will concentrate on studying those experimental phenomena and analyzing the experimental data. After careful reflection, I carefully came to my own conclusion. He respects facts rather than authority. Therefore, he was able to penetrate into the mysteries that people did not know. Discover scientific truth. At that time, Bertore was surrounded by the assimilationist Proust Constant ratio law Have a heated academic debate. Bertore asked Gai Lussac to prove his point of view with experimental facts and refute the other party. However, after repeated experiments, the facts recorded by Guy Lussac have proved that his tutor's views are wrong. He did not hesitate to report the result to the teacher truthfully. Bertore smiled after reading his experiment record. He said to Gai Lussac, "I am proud of you. A talented person like you has no reason to let you be an assistant, even to the greatest scientist. Your eyes can discover truth and insight into mysteries that people do not know, which is not something that everyone can do. You should work independently. From today on, you can carry out any practical steps you think necessary... "

His teachers highly appreciated his quick thinking, superb experimental skills and strong enterprise He gave his own laboratory to work, which played a great role in the early research work of Gai Lussac. In 1809, he was promoted to professor of chemistry in the university. From 1808 to 1832, he served as a professor of physics at the University of Paris, and from 1832 to 1850, he served as a professor at the National University of Paris Natural History Museum Professor of Chemistry. Gay Lussac has made outstanding contributions to physics and chemistry.

Gay Lussac is mainly engaged in physics Molecular physics And thermal research Vapor pressure , temperature and Capillarity They have made outstanding contributions to the research of gas thermal expansion properties, especially the research results of gas thermal expansion properties. In 1801, he and J. Dalton independently discovered the law that the volume of gas changes with temperature, and found that all gases Coefficient of thermal expansion All the same. This heat Coefficient of expansion After half a century, British physicist Kelvin determined its thermodynamics Meaning, established Thermodynamic temperature scale 。 Gay Lussac studied the reason why the thermal expansion coefficients of different gases measured by predecessors were very different, and pointed out that the experimental gases must be fully dried. Through repeated experiments on many different gases, he accurately calculated the gas expansion coefficient to be 0.00375 or 1/266.6, and the modern ideal value is 1/273.15.

In 1802, Gay Lussac published a related paper, "Thermal Expansion of Gases", in which he stated: "My experiments were carried out with great care. They indisputably proved that air, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen nitric oxide , steam ammonia , thick hydrochloric acid 、 Sulfite 、 carbonic acid I can draw the conclusion that all ordinary gases can expand at the same temperature as long as they are under the same conditions thermometer Is equal to 100/26666 of the original volume. " Later, the law that the volume changes linearly with temperature when the gas mass and pressure are constant is called Gay Lussac law 。 In 1807, Gay Lussac also took the lead in measuring the ratio of gases Constant pressure heat capacity The ratio of cp to specific constant volume heat capacity cv y=cp/cv=1.372. In the same year, he found that the temperature of air decreases when it expands, and increases when it is compressed (without heat exchange).

And Gai Lussac's contribution to chemistry, first of all, in gas chemistry, he found that Law of combined volume of gases 。 His work began with Air composition Research. In order to investigate whether the composition of air at different heights is the same, he took the risk of riding a balloon into the sky for observation and experiment. On August 2, 1804, the weather was sunny, cloudless, and hot without a trace of breeze. He and his friend, French chemist Biot, made a huge balloon with resin impregnated woven silk cloth and filled it with hydrogen. The inflated balloon glittered in the sun. Guy Lussac and Biot sat in the round hanging basket under the balloon. As the balloon slowly rose, they waved goodbye to the cheering attendants. Professor Bertore came to the scene in person and shouted: "Safe journey". They are busy collecting air samples and continuously measuring the geomagnetic intensity in the slowly rising balloon basket. The intense work made them ignore the high altitude reaction dizzy 、 Earache Wait for physical discomfort. Trembling with cold, I still stubbornly insisted on this investigation activity, and finally achieved a lot First hand information 。 However, Guy Lussac was not satisfied with the harvest of his first expedition. A month and a half later, he made his second solo exploration. In order to reduce the load and improve the altitude, he tried to pack light. When the balloon rose to 7016 meters, he resolutely threw down the chair and other personal items, so that the balloon continued to rise. People who were working in the fields saw many things falling from the sky, and they didn't know what had happened. However, Gai Lussac created the highest record of taking off by balloon in the world at that time. The results of the two detections show that the geomagnetic intensity is constant in the high-altitude field; The analysis of the collected air samples shows that the air composition is basically the same, but the proportion of oxygen in the air at different heights is different.

In 1808, Gay Lussac, named after him today, was published Gas reaction Volume ratio law, which has a great impact on the future development of chemistry. At this time he was elected to the French Academy. He also discovered boron and made many other contributions. It is particularly worth mentioning that he patriotism 。 He always associates his research work with the honor of his motherland. In 1813, two French chemists Seaweed ash A new element was found in the, but before it was separated, Gay Lussac unintentionally gave all the raw materials to David. When he learned about it, Gay Lussac was very excited and said: "Unforgivable mistake! Unprecedented serious mistake! Unexpectedly, he gave all of his money to foreigners. David will find this element and publish the research results to the world. In this way, the glory of discovering new elements will belong to Britain, not France. " So he and two chemists immediately started from scratch, day and night, and finally confirmed the new element iodine with David at the same time, winning honor for the motherland.

Gai Lussac also explored the air composition and Magnetic phenomenon Has made pioneering contributions. On August 23, 1804, he and his friend Biot went up by balloon with experimental equipment, started the experiment at a height of 6500 feet (about 2000 meters), and continued the experiment until the height of 13000 feet (about 4000 meters). In the same year, he went up to 7016 meters by balloon alone for experiment. The experimental results show that the composition of the air at 6300 meters is the same as that near the earth's surface, and the geomagnetic intensity has almost no change. In March 1805, he and Alexander von Humboldt For accurate measurement Geomagnetic pole The site was investigated for one year. Together, they also calculated the proportion of oxygen in the air using various methods. Guy Lussac Yes Atomism The development of has also contributed. In 1808, he summarized and put forward the hypothesis that the number of atoms in different gases of the same volume at the same temperature and pressure is the same. Later, after Avogadro's correction, this hypothesis was more perfect and became Avogadro's law 。

In the gas experiment, Gay Lussac found that when oxygen and hydrogen combine, the volume of oxygen is almost the same, always half the volume of hydrogen. So he thought that this simple volume relationship might be related to the atomic structure of Accordingly, he thought that other gases Combination reaction There may be similar situations in. But at that time, because of the death of his mentor Professor Brisson, he had to temporary interruption After the experimental work, he returned to Paris. In 1806, at the celebration meeting of the French Academy of Sciences, Guy Lussac was elected as an official member of the Academy. Later, he continued his research on chemical reactions of gases. He fills the container with equal volumes of nitrogen and oxygen, and then lets the mixture pass through electric spark 。 A new gas, nitric oxide, is produced.

He found that one volume of oxygen and one volume of nitrogen were combined to form two volumes of nitric oxide. Further study of chemical reactions between many different gases made him notice that there is always a simple proportional relationship between the volume of all gases participating in the reaction and the volume of the gas generated after the reaction. An important basic point has been found Chemical law ——The discovery of the law of combined volume of gases, originally from the perspective of chemical reaction of gases, has made a strong proof of Dalton's atomic theory, which has attracted the attention of many experts in the chemical field. But Dalton himself is difficult to understand and accept this achievement. He thought that this would lead to the breaking of the atom, thus violating his idea about the atom inseparable The basic idea of. So a long academic debate began. Although, in 1811 Italy The concept of molecule put forward by the chemist Avogadro helps to unify this contradiction. However, chemists are generally dominated by the metaphysical way of thinking, resulting in the neglect of the view of molecular theory for nearly half a century. It was not until 1860, when the molecular theory was generally accepted, that Gay Lussac's law of the combined volume of gases was correctly explained in theory as the controversy subsided.

Invention preparation alkali metal The new method of inorganic chemistry Another contribution from. When Guy Lussac was immersed in the study of gas chemistry, David, a British chemist Electrolytic method The production of metal potassium and sodium shocked the entire scientific community. Alkali metal potassium and sodium are soft like paraffin, light enough to float on the water surface, and can react violently with water at room temperature to generate flame. When the news reached Paris, Napoleon ordered Guy Lussac and his close friend Taina to produce metal potassium and sodium by electrolysis to provide them with powerful batteries.

After the work started, they found that the new Amount of metal very seldom. Is there another easy way? They then turned to the exploration of new preparation methods. They put away the battery and separated iron filings from caustic potash（ KOH ）And caustic soda（ NaOH ）Mix them and heat them in a sealed curved glass tube. As a result Caustic alkali And Red fever The iron filings of. This method is simple and economical, and can produce large amounts of potassium and sodium. However, this method is dangerous. Several times in the experiment Explosion accident , almost took the lives of these two scientists. Guy Lussac was injured by explosion and stayed in bed for more than 40 days. But they still insist on experimenting with potassium and sodium prepared by the new method to study their various properties and practical uses. The specific gravity of potassium measured by them is 0.874 (modern value: 0.859 at 0 ℃), which is more accurate than David's (about 0,6). Their work was immediately appreciated by David himself, and the new method was soon promoted.

The discovery of boron is another achievement derived from Gay Lussac's research on the use of metallic potassium. In the early 19th century, boric acid Of chemical composition It is still a mystery. In June 1808, Gay Lussac and Tyner announced that they had used potassium as a reagent to decompose boric acid. In the experiment, when potassium was applied to molten boric acid, an olive gray New substances 。 After five months of in-depth research, they confirmed that this is a new simple substance, named boron. It also proposed that patent application 。 On November 30 of the same year, they wrote an article in the Physical and Chemical Annual Report, boldly declaring that "the composition of boric acid is no longer a problem. In fact, we can decompose or re synthesize boric acid at will."

In 1809, Gai Lussac and Taina began to study Halogen group element 。 Chlorine was produced in 1774 by Sweden It was first discovered by chemist Scheler. However, at that time, he mistook this yellow green gas for a compound. In 1785, Bertore regarded it as a compound of hydrochloric acid and oxygen, and called it "oxidized hydrochloric acid". In February 1809, based on the results of their repeated experiments, Gay Lussac boldly proposed at the meeting of the Alcui Society that 'oxyhydrochloric acid' is a simple substance, not a compound. David attached great importance to this insight. In November 1810, he Royal Society When reading the paper, it was formally proposed that "oxidized hydrochloric acid" is an element, named chlorine.

Iodine was first discovered by the Frenchman Kutwa in 1811. He once extracted from seaweed ash sylvite However, an unknown new substance was found in the process of preparation, which can corrode copper pots and experimental utensils, bringing great difficulties to potash production. Kutwa successfully separated this substance and gave it to chemists Kleman and Desolm for research. But the two chemists did not publish any research results, so they gave this new substance to David, a British chemist, to study. After learning this, Guy Lussac was very anxious. In order to win honor for his motherland, he worked day and night to gain time to announce this new Scientific achievements 。 He succeeded. A few days later, he finally made this new element and named it iodine. He also studied some living substances of iodine and proved that Hydroiodic acid There is no oxygen in it. Soon, David's research report on iodine was also published, but Guy Lussac's ambition to win honor for his country has been realized.

fluoride The research on the topic of the cooperation between Guy Lussac and Taina was also one of the topics. inhalation Hydrogen fluoride The steam had brought great pain to their bodies, but this did not shake Gai Lussac's determination to devote himself to chemistry. In 1809, they put Calcium fluoride Mixed with boric acid for heating; Attempt to prepare pure "fluoric acid" to study its properties. The results of the experiment unexpectedly produced a so-called fluorine Acid gas ”。 It was later proved that this gas was boron fluoride, namely Boron fluoride （ BF3 ）。 In the same year, he made Anhydrous hydrofluoric acid （ HF ）。

In addition to the above research, Gai Lussac also discussed cyanide Cyanide was prepared for the first time. In 1811, he will Mercuric cyanide And Concentrated hydrochloric acid Distill together to make water free Hydrocyanic acid , creating a new type of hydrocyanic acid system study 。 In the same year, he heated and decomposed mercury cyanide, and found that a combustible gas After research, it was determined that its components were carbon and nitrogen, and he named the gas "cyanide".

While engaged in scientific research and teaching, Gai Lussac also actively participated in the academic conferences held by chemists such as Bertore, and thus met many famous experts and scholars, Laplace Humboldt, Tainer and others are his close friends and collaborators. stay academic exchange He sought advice from others with an open mind, did not believe in ancient and modern authority, and was good at Independent thinking 。 In 1809, Gay Lussac was appointed professor of chemistry at the Technical School and professor of physics at Solpona. He cooperated with Taina to prove that both potassium and sodium are elements with sufficient experimental facts, which corrected the problem that these two metals are hydrogen compounds traditional ideas 。 Another example is that since Lavoisier, there has been a traditional misconception that all acids must contain oxygen. hydrogen sulfide It is acidic, so sulfur also contains oxygen. Gai Lussac proved through experiments that sulfur, phosphorus and other substances do not contain oxygen. They are elements, not compounds. Similarly, Hydrogen chloride Its aqueous solution is acid but does not contain oxygen. Therefore, acids can be divided into Oxyacid and Anaerobic acid In both cases, not all acids contain oxygen.

Gai Lussac was a great chemist in modern times, and also a versatile person. His scientific career began in physics. In 1805, in cooperation with Humboldt, he traveled around Europe to investigate the distribution and law of geomagnetism in detail. In 1322, he studied the thermal expansion of gases and found an important law: when the pressure of a certain mass of gas is constant, the volume of gas increases (or decreases) every time the temperature increases (or decreases) 1 ℃, which is equal to 100/26666 of its volume at 0 ℃ (now 1/273). This is the famous Gai Lussac law. In 1826, he was elected Petersburg Academy of Sciences Honorary academician of.

He attaches great importance to scientific theory Achievements are transformed into productivity. He's right about sulfuric acid manufacturing process The improvement of sulfide Important application of research results. Popular in the early 19th century Lead chamber Sulfuric acid production process, but Nitrogen oxide Can not be recycled, causing serious pollution. In 1827, he proposed to install a "nitrate absorption tower" behind the lead chamber, which sprayed cold sulfuric acid, to solve the problem of process absorption of nitrogen oxide to eliminate pollution and reduce the cost of sulfuric acid. For this reason, people call absorption tower For“ Guy Lusaka Tower ”。

Guy Lussac is not only Outstanding scientists , also a Social activists 。 In 1830, he was appointed Jardin des plantes Professor of Chemistry, also elected national council Members of Parliament. Long term busy and dangerous work and wet laboratory made him suffer from serious arthritis, and his health condition worsened day by day Fighting Insist on research. On May 9, 1850, the famous chemist died in Paris. This is the right time World Science Center France is undoubtedly a huge loss.

Teacher, you are wrong

Two chemists are engaged in a heated academic debate.

"Since we can't convince anyone, let the experimental facts speak," Bertore said to Proust.

"It should be". Proust replied.

Bertore returned to his laboratory and saw his assistant, Guy Lussac, sitting wearily in a chair.

"Well, did I let you get the results of your experiment?" Bertore asked kindly.

"Out." Guy Lussac stood up in high spirits.

"Show me!"

"But, sir," Guy Lussac said after hesitating, "you are wrong.".

"Oh?" Bertore frowned and took it Experimental report , his face showed deep disappointment.

However, for Big scientist Truth is more than self-respect More valuable, after reading the report made by Guy Lussac through repeated experiments, Bertore smiled. He stood up and patted the assistant on the shoulder, He said: "I am proud of you. There is no reason for a talented person like you to be an assistant, even for the greatest scientist. Your eyes can find truth and insight into mysteries that people do not know, but not everyone can do this. You should work independently. From today, you can carry out any experiment you think necessary. If you are willing, please stay in my laboratory to work. I will be very happy if one day I can claim to be the tutor of a researcher like you. I wish you happiness, Gai Lussac. "

Bertore left, and he even forgot his failure, because he was very happy to see that: there is a great chemist in the world! France will be proud to have such a proud son!

Lift off exploration

On August 2, 1804, the weather was sunny and hot, cloudless, and there was no breeze. People filled the huge balloon with hydrogen, and the dense woven fabric soaked in resin glittered in the sun.

To study Atmospheric phenomenon With regard to the geomagnetic phenomenon, Guy Lussac and his friend, another scientist Biot decided to go up high to collect samples.

The balloon gradually expanded, and a few hours later, it left the ground and rose steadily.

Guy Lussac and Biot sat in the round basket. "Bon voyage!" Professor Bertore shouted to see them off.

"I wish you success!" Another professor Brisson also followed with loud congratulations. But soon, his voice was drowned by the cheers of professors, scientists and college students gathered together.

This is really a rare scene. The balloon is rising higher and higher, and the children are crying loudly.

The seeing off crowd gradually disappeared into the boundless abyss below them. "Let's get to work," said Biot.

"I am observing the deviation of the magnetic needle."

"How high have we risen?"

"Distance sea level 5800 meters. "

"I feel my ears ache, dizzy 。”

The high-altitude reaction made Biot's situation worse and worse. Finally, they reluctantly collected some air samples and had to land.

The news of these two brave researchers' selfless ascent caused a very strong reaction, and people talked about these two navigators everywhere flight Even before the talk of the war had subsided, Gai Lussac had decided to carry out another lift off test.

A month and a half later, he made his second solo exploration. In order to reduce the load and improve the altitude, he tried to pack light. When the balloon rose to 7016 meters, he resolutely threw down his chair and other personal belongings, so that the balloon continued to rise. When people working in the fields saw many things falling from the sky, they thought it was a monster.

Gai Lussac created the highest record of taking off by balloon in the world at that time. The air samples detected twice proved that in the high-altitude field, Geomagnetic intensity It is constant, and the composition of air is basically the same, except that the oxygen content decreases with height.

Conquer potassium and sodium

Britisher humphry davy Successfully decomposed with current Potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide , made two new metals. They are as soft as wax, and can float on the water surface, react violently with water and emit flames.

French Academy of Sciences David was awarded a medal for this. At the same time, he also proposed a task for the scientists in his country: to extract these two metals, and the task was finally handed to Gai Lussac and another young scientist, Taina. Two large rooms were vacated under the industrial school, and high-power Battery pack Everything is ready, and Guy Lussac and Tyner begin to work.

Taina from stove Up and down crucible , molten Caustic potash Shining in the crucible, Tyner carefully poured the solution into the container with electrodes. Cap Lussac lit the lamp, and then connected the power supply. Many small bubbles immediately appeared around the electrodes. This indicates that the reaction has begun.

"I think the potassium separation is very slow." Tyner observed Reaction process , he said.

"You need to figure out how much potassium can be separated in an hour, and then figure out productivity How many? " Guy Lussac replied.

"The quantity will not be large."

"This method doesn't seem to work. The potassium produced in this way will be twice as expensive as gold!"

"A less expensive approach should be explored."

"Is it common in chemistry salt ?” Guy Lussac was thoughtful.

They used another method to bring iron filings Of caustic potash and Caustic soda Put it in a closed container for heating. This method is much better than before. It can produce a large amount of metal potassium and metal sodium. However, this method is very dangerous. Several violent explosions occurred, which almost killed the two scientists.

Nevertheless, the two young scientists did not stop working. They successively prepared a large amount of potassium and sodium, which can be used for various experiments.

"Potassium is chemical reaction The element with strong ability can displace many elements from the compound. Can you use potassium to extract the elements contained in boric acid? " Gay Lussac said to Tyner.

"This suggestion is very clever," said Tyner happily. "If you heat boric acid, you will get oxide, but no one can extract the element contained in the oxide at present."

They decided to have a try.

They put boric acid Heating to obtain boric acid crystal , grind the crystal and put it in Porcelain crucible Medium. From mineral oil (Potassium must be stored in mineral oil), take out a piece of potassium, carefully remove it, and then use knife Cut into tiny pieces and put them into a porcelain crucible. Close the lid and start heating. The intense reaction began. A light yellow green flame came out from the gap between the crucible and the crucible cover. A few minutes later, the crucible and the crucible cover were burned red.

After the reaction, Gay Lussac carefully lifted the lid of the crucible, which was full of dark brown powder. They began to analyze the powder, and a few weeks later they determined that it was a new substance - a new element. They call it boron.

Reveal the prototype

In 1809, Gay Lussac was appointed as a professor of chemistry at the Industrial School and a professor of physics at Solpona. However, he still worked with Taina in experiments, and they decided to determine metals potassium Quantity ratio of hydrogen and potassium in, and metal sodium The quantity ratio of hydrogen to sodium.

At that time, these two metals were both considered as hydrogen compounds, because both of them could release hydrogen when dissolved in acid.

In their experiment, they filled a cylindrical cylinder with pure oxygen, put a weighed piece of potassium or sodium into it, and then ignited the oxygen. When the oxygen is burned out Hydrogen in metal The interaction with oxygen will generate water. After the water is dried and collected, the amount of water can be measured, and then the content of hydrogen can be measured. But strangely, the experiment was finished. There was not a drop of water.

"It's incredible. Are we wrong?"

They repeated the experiment again, and still no water was generated.

"Maybe the whole device is not well purged?"

Another set of device was changed, once, twice... Ten experiments were completed, and the results were still the same.

"Then we have to look at the generated oxide What has changed? "

The analysis of oxides shows that there is no water in them.

This observation became the starting point for many important new discoveries, and the wrong understanding of metals was abandoned. The original forms of potassium and sodium were revealed, and new knowledge was established accordingly.

Compete with David

In 1811, the French Kutwa discovered an unknown new substance in the process of making potash from seaweed ash. Kutwa successfully separated this substance and gave it to chemists Cleman and Desolme for research, but the chemist did not publish any research results, so he gave this new substance to British chemist David.

When Gay Lussac learned the news, he was very worried. He said to Cleman, "You are too rash. The French can develop this new substance, but you gave it to an Englishman. This time David will discover this new element and earn honor for his motherland."

In order to win honor for his motherland, Guy Lussac was determined to compete with David. He took back a little of that kind of new substance occasionally left from Kutwa and began to study it day and night.

A few days later, Gay Lussac succeeded in obtaining this pure element. Some small scale like things are shiny like metal. When heated, they quickly evaporate, and heavy dark purple vapor is full of Flask 。

"Let's call this element iodine." Guy Lussac looked at these purple elves proudly. Iode means violet 。

Soon, David's research report was also published, and their competition promoted the development of science. Gai Lvsak also realized his ambition of winning glory for his country.

"Guy Lusaka Tower"

Gay Lussac's fruitful work in various fields of chemistry and physics was recognized by European science. In 1829, he was elected honorary academician of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

At this time, some factory owners producing sulfuric acid made a request to Gai Lussac. In order to sulfur dioxide Oxidation to Sulfur trioxide When nitrogen dioxide is added to the air containing sulfur dioxide, sulfur trioxide and nitric oxide 。 After the sulfur trioxide is absorbed by water, the remaining gas is discharged into the atmosphere through the tall chimney. However, when these gases are mixed with the air, the nitric oxide in them is immediately transformed into Nitrogen dioxide 。 Nitrogen dioxide is a toxic brown gas. This brown smoke from the chimney not only poisons the surrounding creatures, but also the workers in the factory. Plants near the sulfuric acid factory are all poisoned. these ones here Sulfuric acid plant It is like a dangerous and vicious volcano on the desert, with poisonous smoke rising ceaselessly. Must take Emergency measures Solve this problem.

Guy Lussac was engaged in urgent research. He found out that several oxides of nitrogen can be dissolved in sulfuric acid. He called this solution nitrous sulfuric acid, which is non-toxic.

"Don't let this waste gas out of the chimney," Gai Lussac explained to the owner, "we should try to turn waste into profit. To this end, we need to build an absorption tower, Tower height 10-15m, the tower is lined with acid resistant materials, waste gas enters from the bottom of the tower, and sulfuric acid is sprayed down from the top of the tower Oxides of nitrogen When encountering sulfuric acid, it will combine with it and become nitrous sulfuric acid. Nitrous sulfuric acid flows down and can be collected for reuse, while only non-toxic gas is discharged into the atmosphere. "

In 1840, the idea of Gay Lussac was adopted in practice, and an absorption tower appeared in the plant producing sulfuric acid, which is still called“ Guy Lusaka Tower ”。

Long term busy and dangerous work and wet laboratory made him suffer from serious arthritis, and his physical condition worsened day by day. But he fought against the disease tenaciously and insisted on research. On May 9, 1850, the famous chemist died in Paris.

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