Ancients, Alchemists & Proto-chemists

Ancients, Alchemists & Proto-Chemists

Warm Up – Day 1 You are an atom prior to the 19th century, when atoms were not yet discovered. Nobody recognizes you or knows who you are. Compose a short paragraph that you could write to students & scientists alike explaining who you are, why you are so important, and why it is so unfortunate that people don’t know you! Use prior knowledge of atoms, be creative, be funny, use witty sarcasm and/or make a song or rhyme out of it.

Atomic History Time Line

At Least 3 Greek Theories 450 BC – “The Atomists” Democritus & Leucippus First posed idea that matter is made of indivisible particles called atoms (A-tom = no cut, or unable to be divided further).

Democritus of Abdera Democritus asserted that space, or the Void, had an equal right with reality, or Being, to be considered existent. He conceived of the Void as a vacuum, an infinite space in which moved an infinite number of atoms that made up Being (i.e. the physical world). These atoms are eternal and invisible; absolutely small, so small that their size cannot be diminished (hence the name atomon, or "indivisible"); absolutely full and incompressible, as they are without pores and entirely fill the space they occupy; and homogeneous, differing only in shape, arrangement, position, and magnitude.

Heraclitus

Heraclitus claimed that the nature of everything is change itself; likened to everything being made of fire. This led to the belief that change is real, and stability illusory. For Heraclitus everything is "in flux", as exemplified in his famous aphorism "Panta Rhei" ("Panta Rei"): Heraclitus by Hendrick ter Brugghen πάντα χωρεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν μένει (Plato, Cratylus 402a) Everything flows and nothing is left (unchanged), or Everything flows and nothing stands still, or All things are in motion and nothing remains still.

Along comes Aristotle! All substances are made of 4 elements! Fire – Hot, Air – light, Earth - cool, heavy, Water – wet Blend these in different proportions to get all substances. http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/rembrandt/1650/arist otle-homer.jpg

Aristotle

• Aristotle's teachings against the idea of Democritus's atom were so powerful that the idea of the atom fell out of philosophical fashion for the next 2,000 years! • This time period would be dominated by pseudoscience in the name of Alchemy and nothing would happen for a long…

long…

long time…

However… while we are waiting…

…along come the Alchemists!

10th Century Al-Razi developed lab equipment & procedures, also discovered Sulfuric acid.

8th Century Jabir Ibn Haiyan, introduced experimental investigation to alchemy.

Medieval Europe – 1660’s Hennig Brand searched for the “Philosophers Stone,” a substance that would change base metals into gold. Discovered Phosphorous.

Then, finally…the science of Chemistry emerges.

1700’s Joseph Priestley Gas collection using displacement, discovered oxygen.

1600’s – Otto von Guericke Air pressure studies, something the Alchemists lacked.

1780s Antoine Lavoisier proposed the law of conservation of matter: matter is neither created nor destroyed.

The Atom Video • An Introduction to the World of Chemistry!!

Warm Up! Mr. O’Connell is forced to unfortunately delay the start of his class by 30. seconds every time a student asks him a question just after the tardy bell has rung. If 5 students do this at the start of every class throughout the week, how many times could he watch the Lord of the Rings Trilogy with the time wasted in his 9 years of working here? (LOTR Running time approximately 682 min. for extended editions)

Mystery Boxes Activity