Calcium
Calcio (Ca, Z=20)
- Date
- 1808 · confidence high
- Place
- Royal Institution, London, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Humphry Davy
- People
- 👤 Humphry Davy1778–1829
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Davy isolated calcium by electrolysis of a mixture of lime and mercury oxide, following a suggestion by Berzelius and Pontin.
Lime had been known since antiquity, but not as a compound of a metal.
What it led to
- A chemical understanding of lime and cement
- A metallurgical reducing agent for uranium and thorium
- The biochemistry of bone and cell signalling
Built on
- Voltaic pile1800
- Quicklime known since antiquity
Made possible
- Portland cement1824
- Calcium carbide and acetylene