What made Lord Rayleigh suspect that there may be an additional element in air
Answers
Answered by
2
Rayleigh had been professor of physics at Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory from 1879 to 1884, but was then an independent researcher with a private laboratory and an appointment at the Royal Institution. Having discovered that atmospheric nitrogen was denser (by about 0.5%) than nitrogen from chemical compounds, he suspected the presence of a hitherto unknown gas. Later, he learned that Henry Cavendish (after whom the Cambridge laboratory was named) had achieved a similar result many years before.
Cavendish had noticed that when the known atmospheric gases were chemically removed from a sample of air, a tiny bubble remained. He could not identify it, and for a century it was forgotten. Rayleigh and Ramsay agreed to pursue this gas together, and Ramsay isolated it by passing atmospheric nitrogen over red-hot magnesium to form magnesium nitride. He found the gaseous residue ‘an astonishingly indifferent body’ – even fluorine would not combine with it.
Following a preliminary report at the 1894 British Association meeting, Rayleigh and Ramsay announced the discovery of a new element to the Royal Society in January 1895. Their name for it – argon – derived from the Greek word for ‘idle’. Although spectroscopic analysis by William Crookes confirmed that the new gas had a distinctive line-pattern, some critics disputed its elementary status. Ramsay ignored them, and was soon pursuing another mystery gas.
Cavendish had noticed that when the known atmospheric gases were chemically removed from a sample of air, a tiny bubble remained. He could not identify it, and for a century it was forgotten. Rayleigh and Ramsay agreed to pursue this gas together, and Ramsay isolated it by passing atmospheric nitrogen over red-hot magnesium to form magnesium nitride. He found the gaseous residue ‘an astonishingly indifferent body’ – even fluorine would not combine with it.
Following a preliminary report at the 1894 British Association meeting, Rayleigh and Ramsay announced the discovery of a new element to the Royal Society in January 1895. Their name for it – argon – derived from the Greek word for ‘idle’. Although spectroscopic analysis by William Crookes confirmed that the new gas had a distinctive line-pattern, some critics disputed its elementary status. Ramsay ignored them, and was soon pursuing another mystery gas.
Similar questions