Antoine Lavoisier: biography of this chemistry researcher.

A review of the life of this important French scientist, famous for investigating chemical processes.

Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) was a French scientist known as the father of modern chemistry. Through his experiments this discipline was for the first time considered an exact science. In addition, Lavoisier's work allowed us to learn some vital mechanisms about the activity of matter and chemical elements.

The following is a biography of Antoine Lavoisier a biography of Antoine Lavoisier and an explanation of his main scientific contributions..

Antoine Lavoisier: a biography of the father of modern chemistry

Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier, better known as Antoine Lavoisier, was born in Paris on August 26, 1743. He grew up in a middle-class family under the care of his aunt, due to the early death of his mother.

From 1754 to 1761, Lavoisier studied humanities and sciences at the Collège Mazarin, under the tutelage of the astronomer and mathematician Abbe La Caille, one of the first to have measured the meridian arc. He later studied chemistry and botany, as well as law..

As a result of the latter he was admitted to the Order of Barristers, an honorary organization that encourages instruction in law. Lavoisier, however, did not devote himself to the practice of law, but rather to scientific research. to scientific research, which led to his admission to the Order of Barristers.He was admitted to the Academy of Sciences in Paris in 1768, at the age of 25.

A year later he participated in the development of the first geological map of France and in the same context continued to perform multidisciplinary tasks. In 1771 he married Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze, who was quickly trained in Lavoisier's scientific context, and later edited and published her husband's memoirs. Lavoisier died at the guillotine of the French Revolution on May 8, 1794. on May 8, 1794.

5 main scientific contributions

Like other scientists of his generation, Antoine Lavoisier was trained as an expert in very diverse areas. Therefore, he contributed not only to chemistry contributed not only to modern chemistry and science, but also to the humanities and letters..

However, he is best known for having been the first scientist to perform the first quantitative experiments in chemistry, which earned this discipline its immersion in the exact sciences. Because of this, Lavoisier is recognized as a pioneer in stoichiometry (the calculation of the properties of matter in chemical reactions).

Some of his most important experiments are on the nature of combustion, the role of oxygen in the oxidation of metal, the role of oxygen in the respiration of animals and plants, and the mechanism of alcoholic fermentation. In broad outline we will see below some of Lavoisier's main contributions to chemistry.

1. Law of the conservation of matter

Lavoisier sought to study all the substances involved in the reactions he studied. Through multiple experiments, he concluded that during chemical reactions, matter is not destroyed. He was thus one of the main proponents of the laws of conversation of matter. In other words, he succeeded in proving that in a chemical reaction, matter is not destroyed, the amount of material does not change, if anything, its state is modified..

2. Combustion

Perhaps the most recognized scientific contribution of Lavoisier is on the nature of combustion. He describes combustion as the result of the combination of oxygen with another substance. Thus, he developed a theory of oxygen and its role in combustion, which eventually became an experimental chemical theory of respiration and combustion. an experimental chemical theory of respiration and calcination..

This theory represented a challenge to the knowledge of the time, derived from the phlogiston theory, which supported the loss of mass after combustion.

3. Oxygen

Lavoisier argued that air, necessary for combustion, is also a source of acidity. He called the particle responsible for this oxygen, which in Greek means "sharp", meaning that the sharp taste of acids came from this particle.

Also showed that heat in animals is caused mainly by the combustion of carbon by oxygen, and that during physical activity, oxygen consumption increases, which produces more heat.and that during physical activity, oxygen consumption increases, which produces more heat. On the other hand, he also argued that air is a mixture of gases, where elements such as nitrogen and oxygen are mainly found.

4. H2O

On the other hand, he discovered that what until then was known as "inflammable air", which he called "hydrogen" (from the Greek "water-forming"), could produce water when combined with oxygen. The latter based on the previous work of another scientist named Priestley. Thus, Lavoisier is credited with having is credited with having investigated in depth and for the first time the composition of water and air..

5. The elements and their nomenclature

He developed the concept of "element" arguing that these are simple chemical substances, i.e., substances that cannot be decomposed into simpler ones. From this he elaborated a series of proposals on the composition of complex compounds arising from reactions between elements.

At this time, there was no nomenclature there was no rational nomenclature for the elements that make up nature.. Until then, theories tended to focus on earth, water, air and fire. From Lavoisier's studies, along with other French chemists, the Academy of Sciences accepted the existence of 55 simple substances which he called "chemical elements". This facilitated communication among the chemists of the time, and introduced for the first time concepts such as "sulfuric acid" and "sulfates".

Outstanding works

Some of Antoine Lavoisier's major works include On combustion in general y Memoirs on Combustionboth from 1777; General Considerations on the Nature of Acids, 1778.of 1778, Reflections on Phlogistonof 1787, and Method of Chemical Nomenclature of 1787.

Bibliographical references:

• Antoine Lavoisier (2016). New World Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 19, 2018. Available at http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Antoine_Lavoisier.
• Donovan, A. (2018). Antoine Lavoisier. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved October 19, 2018. Available at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antoine-Laurent-Lavoisier.