Ann Karimbabai Massihi Sveti Patel Sandy Saekoh Thomas Choe Chemistry 480 Dr. Harold Goldwhite Henry Cavendish I. Childhood A. Henry Cavendish was born in Nice, France, on 10 October1731, and died alone on 24 February 1810. B. His parental grandfather was Duke of Devonshire and his maternal grandfather was Duke of Kent 1 C. His parents were English aristocrats. D. His father was Lord Charles Cavendish, a member of Royal Society in London and an experimental scientist. E. His father made his own scientific equipment for him. II. Education A. At age of 11, he attended Dr. Newcome’s Academy in Hackney, London from 1749-1753. B. In 1749, he went to Peterhouse College. C. He left the college at 1753 without a degree. D. His father encouraged his scientific interest and introduced him to the Royal Society and he became a member in 1760. III. Papers A. Since he did his scientific investigation for his pleasure, he was careless in publishing the results. B. In 1776, he published his 1st paper about the existence of hydrogen as a substance. 1. He received the Copley Medal of the Royal Society for this achievement. C. In 1771, a theoretical study of electricity. D. In 1784, the synthesis of water. E. In 1798, the determination of the gravitational constant. IV. Experiments A. Fixed air (CO2) produced by mixing acids and bases. B. “Inflammable air” (hydrogen) generated by the action of acid on metals. 2 Figure 1. Cavendish's apparatus for making and collecting hydrogen Gas bladder used by Henry Cavendish 3 C. The air produced during decay and fermentation. D. He measured the specific gravity of H2 and CO2 comparing it with the common air (atmosphere). E. In 1783, he found that the composition of the atmosphere is the same in different locations and at different times. F. He also found that a small fraction of “common air” seems to be inert. G. He demonstrated that water is produced when hydrogen burns in air. So water is a compound and not an element. H. By sending electric sparks through ‘common air’ he caused the nitrogen to combine with oxygen. 1. When this gas was dissolved in water, it produced nitric acid. V. Works on physics A. The important part was on electricity and gravitation. B. Although he found that electric fields obey the inverse square law, much of his work was done by Michael Faraday, Charles Coulomb and others in next 50 years. C. None of his experiments were know until James Clerk Maxwell published them in 1879. D. Then, he worked on the production of heat and determined the freezing point for many materials. VI. Works on astronomy A. He had 5 papers in this regard. B. The most important one was in 1798, when he announced his determination of Newton’s gravitational constant, thereby deriving the density and mass of the Earth. 4 5 Henry Cavendish (1731-1810) built a torsion balance to measure the gravitational force between two large masses, so that he could make the first calculation of the mass of the earth. Cavendish was a great scientist and was honored by the naming of the Cavendish Labratories at the University of Cambridge. 6 Cavendish Lab Sign (RR) 7 Works Cited 1. Copernicus, Abbot. Biological Encyclopedia of Scientists. Ed. Roger Smith. New York, London, Toronto: Marshal Cavendish. 2. Porter, Roy, and Marilyn Ogilvie, ed. The Biological Dictionary of Scientist 1(2000): 222- 223. 3 rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. 3. Cavendish, Henry. Experiments on Air. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 74. (1784), pp. 119-153. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0261- 0523%281784%2974%3C119%3AEOABHC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-V. 4. SEITZ, FREDERICK. Henry Cavendish: The Catalyst for the Chemical Revolution. PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, VOL. 148, NO. 2, JUNE 2004. http://www.aps-pub.com/proceedings/1482/480201.pdf. 5. Berry, Arthur J. Henry Cavendish-His Life and Scientific Work. London: Hutchinson & CO. LTD, 1960. 6. Wilson, George. The honorable Henry Cavendish. London: Cavendish Society, 1900. 7. Seitz, Frederick. Henry Cavendish: The Catalyst for the Chemical Revolution. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. (June 2004): Vol. 148, 2: pp.151-179 8. “Henry Cavendish.” World of Chemistry. Online. Thomas Gale, 2006 9. “Henry Cavendish.” Science and Its Times, Vol. 4:1700-1799. Gale Group, 2001 8 .