Beatrice Arce Science 8-4

December 7, 2009

Amedeo Avogadro

Amedeo Avogadro

Amedeo Avogadro was born in Turin, Italy on August 9, 1776. His parents were Count Filippo Avogadro and Anna Maria Vercellone. He was born into a weathy family, and they urged him to study law, so he did. At the age of twenty Avogadro went to school for law referring to matters concerning the church. But on the other hand, he wasnt that interested in the law of the church. The beginning of the 19th century was an exciting time for chemistry, and Amedeo wanted to explore it! When Amedeo was 24 he started having private math and physics classes. His first scientific experiment was on electricity. It was not successful. Three years later, he was appointed demonstrator at the Academy of Turin. In 1809, he forgot about law and started teaching high school science in Vercelli, Italy. While teaching in Italy, Avagadro wrote a memoir which he stated his hypothesis on gases. His law says that "equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain the same number of molecules regardless of their chemical nature and physical properties". Unfortunately, Avogadro's hypothesis was ignored for more than 50 years after it was first published. On top of that, he was not part of a popular community of chemists. He stayed in this employment position until 1850. But he also founded the mole, abbreviated mol. Its the SI unit for describing an amount of substance that scientists use to deal with large particle numbers, a collection of large number of particles, basically. The number is written in scientific notation as 6.022 x 10 23 and it is known as Avogadros Constant.

Not much is known about Avogadro's life outside of physics. He had six children and was reputed to be a religious man and also a discreet lady's man. Some historical accounts indicate that Avogadro sponsored Sardinians planning a revolution on that island. He married Felicita Mazz, and they had a total of six sons. Avogadro led a hardworking life, and was a modest man. This probably contributed to his hypothesis not being discovered until 50 years after it was published. Avogadro died on the 9th of July, 1856. He was described as not a prejudiced person. In 1811, Avogadro broadcasted an article in Journal de Physique that obviously drew the distinction between a molecule and an atom. He pointed out to Dalton that had confused the concepts of atoms and molecules. These so called atoms of nitrogen and oxygen are in reality molecules containing two atoms each. Avogadro suggested that equal volumes of all gases at the same temperature and pressure contain the same number of molecules which is now known as Avogadro's Law. His law means that the connection between the weights of same volumes of different gasses agrees to the connection between specific molecular weights. Therefore, reative molecular masses (the mass in grams of 1 mol of a substance) can be calculated from the masses of gas samples. Avogadros accomplishments were almost completely forgotten until they were forcefully presented by Stanislao Cannizarro at the Karlsruhe Conference in 1860. Avogadro died on July 9, 1856 at the age of 74 in Turin, Italy.

Bibliography

Dobson, Ken, John Holman, and Michael Roberts. "Atoms and the Periodic Table." Holt Science Spectrum A Balanced Approach. New York: Holt Rinehart & Winston, 2001. 95-96. Print.

Helmenstine, Anne M. About.com: Chemistry New York Times, 2009. Web. 3 Nov. 2009 <http://chemistry.about.com/od/famouschemists/a/avogadro.htm>.

Johnson, Chris. Amedeo Avogadro. N.p., 4 July 2004. Web. 3 Nov. 2009 <http://www.bulldog.u-net.com/avogadro/avoga.html>.

Kiwi Web LA & HA Campbell, 2009. Web. 3 Nov. 2009 <http://www.chemistry.co.nz/avogadro.htm>.

New World Enclopedia N.p., 12 Dec. 2008. Web. 3 Nov. 2009 <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Amedeo_Avogadro#Accomplishm ents>.