Chemistry Project

Sir Antoine Lavoiser

His Life
Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier was born to a wealthy family in Paris on 26
August 1743. The son of an attorney at the Parliament of Paris, he
inherited a large fortune at the age of five .In his last two years (1760
1761) at the college his scientific interests were aroused, and he
studied chemistry, botany, astronomy, and mathematics. Lavoisier
entered the school of law, where he received a bachelor's degree in
1763 and a licentiate in 1764. Lavoisier received a law degree and was
admitted to the bar, but never practiced as a lawyer. However, he
continued his scientific education in his spare time.

Attempts on explaining acid

and bases
His attempt at defining the difference between acids and bases in year
1777 was the first classified attempt to distinguish acids and bases on a
chemistry level, even though we now know that it turned out to be
wrong. Lavoisier indicated that all acids contained oxygen. He also
indicated that oxygen was causing acidity, since he had isolated it from
several acids. Today, we know that Lavoisiers theory about acids is
incorrect since hydro-halic acids do not contain oxygen, but,
obviously, they are still acids. Hydro-halic acids are made up of
hydrogen and of one of the halogens, forming for instance HCl or HBr.
Hydro-halic acids were unknown to him, he therefore claimed that
oxygen in a compound was the cause of acidity which he stated in
"General Considerations on the Nature of Acids" in 1778.
Nevertheless, he is as a matter of fact the creator of the word oxygen
(from the Greek oxys=sour and genes=born) making it an acid former
or an acid maker.

Acids & Bases in Society

Our understanding on acids and bases is still under development,
however the understanding gained this far has helped us develop in
different sciences, some of which I have already mentioned. However, I
am yet to speak about the significance of acids and bases as applied to
society as a community and not the scientific fields of society.

Few substances are known to have a neutral pH, thus we can easily
assume that acids and bases play a significant role in our lives. As stated
in Acids & Bases in Biochemistry and Cell-biology the understanding
of acids and bases has helped us develop cancer research, which is, due
to the width and mortality rate of the disease, one of the most
important fields of research we are carrying out in todays society. The
understanding of acids and bases has led us to a point in cancer
research where we understand how the disease, not only one type of
cancer but all of them, may be tackled. The question posing cancer
researcher now is how they should do this. Without the understanding
of the pH value, we would not understand how the metabolic switch
between glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation is related to the
growth of cancerous tumors. This implies that we would not have been
standing in front of this milestone in cancer research, which may lead
to our discovery of a cure for cancer. Thanks to our understanding of
acids and bases, we may be able to save thousands of lives in the
future.

The knowledge of soil pH is applied every day in agriculture. With the

knowledge of how the pH in the soil affects the biodiversity we are able

to maximize our crops by using fertilizers. The usage of fertilizers is

extremely important; especially in developing countries, where just the
slightest of increase of the availability/access of food can save many
lives.

The conclusion we arrive to is that the application of acids and bases

has no limits in terms of range. The different subjects covered prove
how important the theories on acids and bases are and how they affect
the society. Without the knowledge of pH and what it means, our
society would not have been as developed as it is today. The knowledge
of acids and bases affect our daily lives through anything ranging from
agriculture to medicine. These two subjects both emphasize the wealth
of the human race, which implies that the knowledge of acids and bases
directly has, and still does, affect our daily lives.

Sir Svante Arrhenius

His Life
Svante August Arrhenius (19 February 1859 2 October 1927) was a
Swedish scientist, originally a physicist, but often referred to as a
chemist, and one of the founders of the science of physical chemistry.
He received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1903 and in 1905 became
director of the Nobel Institute where he remained until his death.The
Arrhenius equation, Arrhenius definition of an acid, lunar crater
Arrhenius and the Arrhenius Labs at Stockholm University are named
after him.

Attempts on explaining acid

and bases
Svante Arrhenius developed the first successful theory of acids and
bases in 1887. According to Arrhenius's concept, an acid is a molecular
substance that breaks up in aqueous solution into hydrogen ions (H+)
and anions. (Because a hydrogen ion is a hydrogen atom from which
the sole electron has been removed, H+ ions are also called protons.)
The acid is said to ionize. An Arrhenius base is defined as a substance
that releases hydroxide ions (OH-) in aqueous solution. Some bases are
ionic solids that contain OH-, such as sodium hydroxide and
calciumhydroxide. These compounds simply release hydroxide ions into
the solution when the solid is dissolved in water.