The Discovery of Hydrogen
Hydrogen was discovered by Henry Cavendish (1731-1810) at 1766 in London, England. Though Cavendish was the first person to recognise Hydrogen as an element, written records suggest that Robert Boyle produced hydrogen gas in 1671 by experimenting with iron and acid.
Cavendish (who also discovered Nitrogen), collected Hydrogen over mercury and described it as "inflammable air from metals". For this reason, Cavendish thought that Hydrogen came from a metal, though it really comes from a gas. Beside this mistake, Cavendish accurately described all the other properties of Hydrogen.
In 1783, Hydrogen was named by Antoine Lavoisier. He named it Hydrogen as Hydro means water and gene means generator in Greek; and hydrogen generate oxygen when burnt with oxygen
Cavendish (who also discovered Nitrogen), collected Hydrogen over mercury and described it as "inflammable air from metals". For this reason, Cavendish thought that Hydrogen came from a metal, though it really comes from a gas. Beside this mistake, Cavendish accurately described all the other properties of Hydrogen.
In 1783, Hydrogen was named by Antoine Lavoisier. He named it Hydrogen as Hydro means water and gene means generator in Greek; and hydrogen generate oxygen when burnt with oxygen
Hydrogen: A timeline
- 776-1781: During this five year period, Cavendish recognised Hydrogen as an element (see above), discovered that Hydrogen burns in water and discovered that it is 7 to 11 times lighter than air
- 1783: After Cavendishes discovery, Jacque Charles made his first balloon flight in a Hydrogen filled balloon
- 1784: Lavoisier creates iron-steam process which generates hydrogen by passing water vapour over a iron at 600°C
- 1800: William Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle decomposed water into Hydrogen and Oxygen
- 1806: François Isaac de Rivaz built the first combustion engine using Hydrogen and Oxygen
- 1823-1826: Various objects were invented involving Hydrogen or a mix of Hydrogen and Oxygen
- 1896: Weather balloons filled with Hydrogen are invented
- 1899: Solid Hydrogen is first created by James Dewar
- 1900: The first Hydrogen filled airship is launched, Zeppelin LZ1
- 1923: Man-methanol is first created
- 1937: The Hindenberg (another Hydrogen filled airship) is destroyed in a fire as Hydrogen is very flammable
- 1938: Hydrogen is suggested to be used a fuel
- Late 1900s: Many amazing transportation devices were invented and ran on Hydrogen fuel
- 2000s: See uses page