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Big moments in ChemistryHere is a snapshot of some of the major scientists who have contributed to the development of ideas in Chemistry.
Robert Boyle (1661) can be considered as the Godfather of chemistry as his work was underpinned by experiment under controlled conditions, precision and accurate observation. His many experiments included the use of vegetable dyes as acid-base indicators and the use of flame tests to detect metals. His pioneering experiments demonstrated that air was essential for respiration, combustion and transmission of sound. He worked extensively on the compressibility of air and the relationship between volume and pressure now called Boyle’s Law or Ideal gas equation (PV = nRT). This resulted in his findings casting doubt on classical models and he came up with a new definition of the "element". His ideas changed people’s attitudes and paved the way for later scientists like Lavoisier to develop a new chemical revolution.
Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) is greatly regarded as the Father of modern chemistry. His work helped disprove the phlogiston theory and hence revolutionaries peoples scientific ideas. Antoine L. Lavoisier discovers that matter is neither created nor destroyed in chemical reactions, the law of conservation of mass. Antoine L. Lavoisier shows that oxygen and hydrogen can be burned together to form water and oxygen as the gas necessary for combustion.
Apart from his work on atomic theory Dalton also worked on meteorology, composition of gases and colour blindness.
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