What is humphry davy most famous for
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Humphry Davy
British chemist and inventor (1778–1829)
Sir Humphry Davy Bt FRS MRIA FGS | |
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Portrait by Thomas Phillips, 1821 | |
| Born | (1778-12-17)17 December 1778 Penzance, Cornwall, England |
| Died | 29 May 1829(1829-05-29) (aged 50) Geneva, Switzerland |
| Known for | |
| Awards | |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry |
| Institutions | |
| In office 1820–1827 | |
| Preceded by | William Hyde Wollaston |
| Succeeded by | Davies Gilbert |
Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, FRS, MRIA, FGS (17 December 1778 – 29 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for the first time: potassium and sodium[1] in 1807 and calcium, strontium, barium, magnesium and boron the following year, as well as for discovering the elemental nature of chlorine and iodine. Davy also studied the forces involved in these separations, inventing the new field of electrochemistry. Davy is al
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English chemist who experimented with gases by inhaling them. This experimental procedure nearly proved fatal on several occasions, but led to the discovery of the unusual effects of nitrous oxide, which came to be known as laughing gas. He performed the first electrochemical decompositions, isolating potassium, barium, strontium, calcium, and magnesium. Davy showed that hydrochloric acid did not contain oxygen, in opposition to Lavoisier's theories. He proved that chlorine was an element, and gave it its name (derived from the Greek work for green). Davy was a popular lecturer and able experimenter. In fact, it was as an assistant in Davy's lab that Faraday began his scientific career.
One of Davy's experiments consisted of rubbing two ice cubes together and observing that they melted, in contradiction to the caloric theory. Davy also proposed a system of proportions to calculate ratios of chemical combination similar to the "chemical equivalents" of Wollaston. He showed that a voltaic pile produced no current when the disks were wette
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Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829)
Humphry Davy was a distinguished scientist who changed coalmining with his design for a safety lamp. As a scientist he was a pioneer of electrolysis and the first chemist to isolate many elements, including potassium, chlorine, calcium and magnesium. He identified the potential use of nitrous oxide in anaesthesia. He was the first person to demonstrate the principle of the arc lamp. He was also a mentor to the scientist Michael Faraday.
Davy was born in Penzance, as the south-west end of England, where his father worked as a woodcarver. He was apprenticed to a local surgeon, in whose drug dispensary he began to experiment in chemistry. He learned French so that he could study the work of Lavoisier. He showed exceptional ability and in 1798 he was appointed to an institute for the study of gases at Bristol. He got to know other scientists and innovators, including Josiah Wedgwood and James Watt. In 1801, he joined the newly established Royal Institution in London, where he became Professor of chemistry. He was President of the Royal Society and elect
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