Inflammable air and gas densities (Cavendish)
Aire inflamable y densidad de los gases
- Date
- 1766 · confidence high
- Place
- London, England
- Credited to
- Henry Cavendish
- People
- 👤 Henry Cavendish1731–1810
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Cavendish isolates 'inflammable air' (hydrogen) by the action of acids on metals, measures its density and, in 1781-1784, shows that when it burns in air it produces water, demonstrating that water is a compound.
Priority over the composition of water was disputed between Cavendish, Watt and Lavoisier (the 'water controversy').
What it led to
- Composition of water
- Quantitative gas chemistry
- Hydrogen balloons
Built on
- Black's fixed air
- Hales's pneumatic trough
Made possible
- Methane (marsh gas)1776
- Charles's hydrogen balloon (1783)