![]() Molecular H 2 filled one of the first balloons used to carry people in 1783 (pictured), and the fuel tanks of rockets two centuries later, permitting the inquisitive to explore further and further.īecause H and H 2 constitute the prototypical atom and molecule, respectively, they have been extensively used by theoreticians for over a century - since the birth of quantum mechanics. The evolved H 2 gas is an excellent, ultra-light energy carrier, and very promising as a fuel - abundant and environmentally friendly as its oxidation produces water. ![]() It is this process that we try to achieve today, although with a much smaller electric bill, through a photochemical process 2. ![]() Conversely, in 1800 Nicholson and Carlisle (shortly followed by Ritter) managed to decompose water into its elemental constituents using electrolysis. This discovery inspired Lavoisier to call the substance 'hydro-gen', meaning water-former, in 1783. In 1671 Robert Boyle described the formation of gas bubbles from the reaction of iron filings with acid, but it was Cavendish who recognized H 2 (which he referred to as 'inflammable air') as a substance distinct from other gases, which, when it was burnt in 'dephlogisticated air' (oxygen) produced water. Van Helmont was the first to find out that although hydrogen was combustible in air, it could not support combustion by itself. Credit: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
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