Discovery: The existance of oxygen.
Year: 1770s
Person: Joseph Priestley and Antoine Lavoisier.
Path: Joseph Priestley finds oxygen in expriments and realizes its natural processes. However, he did not realize that it was what comprised the atmosphere. Lavoisier then coins the word oxygen and accurately describes it in nature.
Ramifications: Modern chemistry began with the realization that water was not an element, but comprised of two elements.
Discovery: Atomic theory
Year: 1808
Person:John Dalton
Path: He links invisible atoms to a size of which they would be able to be measured, realizing that there must be a smaller component. Therefore, an element has all the same type of atoms, with an equal mass.
Ramifications: This allowed chemistry to be opened to a molecular level.
Discovery: Atoms Combine into Molecules
Year: 1811 onward
Person: Amedeo Avogardo
Path: He believes that atoms of different elements form molecules.
Ramifications: Therefore, equal sizes of gases under the same amount of energy equal the same amount of molecules.
Discovery: Synthesis of Urea
Year: 1828
Person: Friedich Woehler
Path: While conducting an experiment, crystals arize. They appeared the same to crystals from urine earlier. They were!
Ramifications: This put organic and inorganic material on the same chemical playing field.
Discovery: Chemical Structure
Year: 1850s
Person: Friedrich Kekule
Path: He realized that benzene did not fit a previously proposed molecular formula, and realized that molecules where not snakes, but rings.
Ramifications: This allowed the study of chemical structure to take off.
Discovery: Periodic Table
Year: 1860s
Person: Dmitri Mendeleyev
Path: He arranged all the elements in a square to organize all the elements. A pattern formed, according to periodic cycles.
Ramifications: He singlehandedly caused the discovery of gallium, scandium, and germanium.
Discovery: Electricity Transforms Chemicals
Year: 1807-1810
Person: Humphrey Davy
Path: He used a battery to separate salts, realizing that electricity can separate molecules.
Ramifications: This allowed separation of chemicals, which allows for more in-depth study of elements by themselves.
Discovery: The Electron
Year: 1897
Person: JJ Thomson
Path: He realized that benzene did not fit a previously proposed molecular formula, and realized that molecules where not snakes, but rings. He isolated these particles in CRTs, and realized that they were part of all atoms.
Ramifications: This allowed for intraatomic studies to begin.
Discovery: Electrons for Chemical Bonds
Year: 1913-
Person: Niels Bohr
Path: Niels Bohr published works on his theories how electrons move around the atom in a specific pattern.
Ramifications: This allows deeper understanding in how electrons function in the atom.
Discovery: Atoms Have Signatures of Light
Year: 1850s
Person:Gustav Kirchhoff and Robert Bunsen
Path: Using a color spectrum, they realized all different elements made fire a certain color when placed next to it.
Ramifications: The paired the color of fire from the sun to sodium, and allowed for a signature of each element.
Discovery: Radioactivity
Year: 1890s and 1900s
Person: Marie and Pierre Curie
Path: They find readioactive materials. They took out radioactivity from uranium, and realized that radioactive elements are more "active".
Ramifications: This lead to studies in radioactivity and the discovery of polonium and radium.
Discovery: Plastics
Year:
Person: John Wesley Hyatt
Path: He created celluloid plastic to use as ivory in the production of billiard balls. Leo Baekeland later invented Bakelite, which is hardened.
Ramifications: This lead to manufacturing revolutions and a plethora of household products.
Discovery: Fullerenes
Year: 1985
Person: Robert Curl, Harold Kroto and Rick Smalley
Path: Fullerenes, a "perfect" molecules, are comprised of 60 carbon molecules. They can be fashioned in cylinders, tubes, and other geodesic shapes.
Ramifications: This could lead to products stronger than diamonds.
