Chlorine
Cloro (Cl, Z=17)
- Date
- 1774 · confidence high
- Place
- Uppsala, Sweden
- Credited to
- Carl Wilhelm Scheele
- People
- 👤 Carl Wilhelm Scheele1742–1786
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Scheele obtained a yellowish-green gas by treating pyrolusite with hydrochloric acid and took it for a compound; Davy showed in 1810 that it was an element and named it.
A dispute between Scheele's preparation (1774) and Davy's elemental identification (1810).
What it led to
- Industrial bleaching of textiles and paper
- Disinfection of drinking water
- PVC and chlorinated solvents
Built on
- muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid)
- Pyrolusite
Made possible
- Plasticized PVC1912–1926
- Water chlorination