Unit 1

History of Chemistry

Reading Text 1

Famous Chemists
In many ways, the history of civilization is the be described in terms of elementary particles and
history of chemistry — the study of matter and its their motion,” an early understanding of atomic
properties. Humans have always sought to identify, theory. In 1661, he wrote the first chemistry
use and change the materials in our environment. textbook, “The Sceptical Cymist,” which moved the
Early potters found beautiful glazes to decorate and study of substances away from mystical associations
preserve their wares. Herdsmen, brewers and with alchemy and toward scientific investigation.
vintners used fermentation techniques to make
cheese, beer and wine. Housewives leached the lye By the 1700s, the Age of Enlightenment had
from wood ash to make soap. Smiths learned to taken root all over Europe. Joseph Priestley (1733-
combine copper and tin to make bronze. Crafters 1804) disproved the idea that air was an indivisible
learned to make glass; leatherworkers tanned hides. element. He showed that it was, instead, a
combination of gases when he isolated oxygen and
In the eighth century A.D., Jābir ibn Hayyān, a went on to discover seven other discreet
Muslim astronomer, philosopher and scientist, gases. Jacques Charles continued Boyles’ work and is
became one of the first to use scientific methods to known for stating the direct relationship between
study materials. Also known by his Latinized name, temperature and pressure of gases. In 1794, Joseph
Geber, he is known as the "father of chemistry." He Proust studied pure chemical compounds and stated
is thought to be the author of 22 scrolls describing the Law of Definite Proportions — a chemical
methods of distillation, crystallization, sublimation compound will always have its own characteristic
and evaporation. He invented the alembic, a device ratio of elemental components. Water, for instance,
used to distill and study acids. He also developed an always has a two-to-one ratio of hydrogen to oxygen.
early chemical classification system using the
properties of the materials he studied. His Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) was a French
categories were: chemist who made important contributions to the
 “Spirits” — materials that would vaporize science. While working as a tax collector, Lavoisier
when heated. helped to develop the metric system in order to
 "Metals" — including iron, tin, copper, and insure uniform weights and measures. He was
lead. admitted to the French Academy of Sciences in
 Non-malleable substances — materials that 1768. Two years later, at age 28, he married the 13-
could be made into powders, such as stone. year-old daughter of a colleague. Marie-Anne
Lavoisier is known to have assisted her husband in
 Today we might call similar materials
his scientific studies by translating English papers
“volatile chemicals, metals and non-metals.”
and doing numerous drawings to illustrate his
experiments.
Classical chemistry
In Europe, the study of chemistry was Lavoisier’s insistence on meticulous
conducted by alchemists with the goals of measurement led to his discovery of the Law of
transforming common metals into gold or silver and Conservation of Mass. In 1787, Lavoisier published
inventing a chemical elixir that would prolong life. "Methods of Chemical Nomenclature," which included
Although these goals were never achieved, there the rules for naming chemical compounds that are
were some important discoveries made in the still in use today. His "Elementary Treatise of
attempt. Chemistry" (1789) was the first modern chemistry
textbook. It clearly defined a chemical element as a
Robert Boyle (1627-1691)
substance that cannot be reduced in weight by a
studied the behavior of gases and
chemical reaction and listed oxygen, iron, carbon,
discovered the inverse
sulfur and nearly 30 other elements then known to
relationship between volume and
exist. The book did have a few errors though; it
pressure of a gas. He also stated
listed light and heat as elements.
that “all reality and change can

Robert Boyle
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 Amedeo Avogadro (1776-1856) was an Italian 3. Atoms cannot be created, subdivided or
lawyer who began to study science and mathematics destroyed.
in 1800. Expanding on the work of Boyle and Charles, 4. Atoms of different elements combine in simple
he clarified the difference between atoms and whole number ratios to form chemical
molecules. He went on to state that equal volumes compounds.
of gas at the same temperature and pressure have 5. In chemical reactions atoms are combined,
the same number of molecules. The number of separated or rearranged to form new
molecules in a 1-gram molecular weight (1 mole) compounds.
sample of a pure substance is called Avogadro’s
Constant in his honor. It has been experimentally Dmitri Mendeleev (1834-1907) was a Russian
determined to be 6.023 x 1023 molecules and is an chemist known for developing
important conversion factor used to determine the the first Periodic Table of the
mass of reactants and products in chemical Elements. He listed the 63 known
reactions. elements and their properties on
cards. When he arranged the
In 1803, an English meteorologist began to elements in order of increasing
speculate on the phenomenon of water vapor. John atomic mass, he could group
Dalton (1766-1844) was aware that water vapor is elements with similar properties.
part of the atmosphere, but experiments showed With a few exceptions, every
that water vapor would not form in certain other Dmitri Mendeleev seventh element had similar
gases. He speculated that this had something to do properties (The eighth chemical
with the number of particles present in those gases. group — the Noble Gases — had not been discovered
Perhaps there was no room in those gases for yet). Mendeleev realized that if he left spaces for
particles of water vapor to penetrate. There were the places where no known element fit into the
either more particles in the “heavier” gases or those pattern that it was even more exact. Using the blank
particles were larger. Using his own data and the spaces in his table, he was able to predict the
Law of Definite Proportions, he determined the properties of elements that had yet to be
relative masses of particles for six of the known discovered. Mendeleev’s original table has been
elements: hydrogen (the lightest and assigned a updated to include the 92 naturally occurring
mass of 1), oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, sulfur elements and 26 synthesized elements.
and phosphorous. Dalton explained his findings by
stating the principles of the first atomic theory of The aforementioned are some of the well-
matter. known chemist and most of their works has
continued to influence the development of science,
1. Elements are composed of extremely small especially chemistry and without them, the world
particles called atoms. would not be like what it is today.
2. Atoms of the same element are identical in size,
mass and other properties. Atoms of different Source:
https://www.livescience.com/46020-chemistry-history.html
elements have different properties.

A. Vocabulary
Read passage above carefully. Match the vocabularies below with their meaning
according to the context given in the passage.
1. Sought : ______________ 6. Elixir : ______________
2. Lye : ______________ 7. Atoms : ______________
3. Distillation : ______________ 8. Molecules : ______________
4. Crystallization : ______________ 9. Conversion : ______________
5. Sublimation : ______________ 10. Particles : ______________
Definitions:
a. A minute portion of matter.
b. A chemical process where a solid turns into a gas without going through a liquid stage.
c. The process of changing or causing something to change from one form to another.
d. A strongly alkaline solution, especially of potassium hydroxide, used for washing or cleansing.
e. The basic unit of a chemical element.
f. A group of atoms bonded together, representing the smallest fundamental unit of a chemical
compound that can take part in a chemical reaction.
g. The solidification of atoms or molecules into a highly structured form called a crystal.

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 h. Attempt to find (something).
i. The action of purifying a liquid by a process of heating and cooling.
j. A magical or medicinal potion

B. Reading Comprehension
Answer the following questions based on the text above.
1. Modifying materials have always been part of human life. (T / F )
2. Brewers use the knowledge of chemistry to produce wine. (T / F )
3. An alembic is a device used to distill and study bases. (T / F )
4. One of the early usages of chemistry was to produce potions. (T / F )
5. The first understanding of the atomic theory was mentioned by Robert Boyle. (T / F )
6. Robert Boyle eliminate the mystical aspects of chemistry. (T / F )
7. Mention two examples of the way society use chemistry!
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8. Explain Joseph Priestley’s discovery!
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9. What does the Law of Definite Proportion show us?
__________________________________________________________________________
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10. What is the relation among Avogrado, Boyle, and Charles?

__________________________________________________________________________________
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11. Mendeleev based his arrangement of the elements on what?

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 Language Focus 2

Present Perfect vs Past Simple

Example:

1. Most of their works has continued to influence the development of science.

2. Humans have always sought to identify, use and change the materials in our environment.
3. Robert Boyle (1627-1691) studied the behavior of gases and discovered the inverse
relationship between volume and pressure of a gas.
4. In 1787, Lavoisier published "Methods of Chemical Nomenclature," which included the rules
for naming chemical compounds that are still in use today.

The sentences above are taken from the previous text. In all of the sentences above,
it shows that they all describe past activities. However, as you can see, it uses two different
kinds of tenses; simple past and present perfect. So, how do we differentiate them? Read the
following explanation to help you understand the differences between the two tenses.
Recognizing the two tenses (Form):

Simple past Present perfect

Subject + V2 Subject + has/have + V3

Basic uses and functions:

Simple past Present perfect

1. Use the simple past for actions in the 1. Use the present perfect for an action
past that have no connection to the or situation that started in the past
present and when the time of the past and continues in the present.
action is important or shown. 2. An action performed during a period
that has not yet finished.
3. A repeated action in an unspecified
period between the past and now.
4. An action that was completed in the
very recent past, expressed by 'just'.
5. An action when the time is not
important.

Signal words (definite): Signal words (indefinite):

last week, when I was a child, yesterday, six just, never, ever, yet, already, recently,
weeks ago, in 2001. since, for, so far, up to now.

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Sentence example: Sentence examples:
1. She found her computer yesterday. 1. I have lived in Bristol since 1984. (I
still do)
2. She has been to the cinema twice this
week (and the week isn't over yet.)
3. We have visited Portugal several
times.
4. I have just finished my work.
5. She has found her computer.

Practice!
A. Direction: Fill in the blanks with the simple past or the present perfect of the verb in
parentheses ().
A: Do you like to surf the internet?

B: Of course, I do. I’ve had (have) my internet connection since 1999, and I love it. A couple of
months ago, I ___________ (buy) a new computer with lots of memory and speed. And last month
I _________ (change) to a better service provider. Now I can surf much faster.

A: What kind of things do you search for?

B: Lots of things. I ________ (always/want) to learn about the stock market, and with the Web, I
can start to learn. Last week, I __________ (make) my first investment in the stock market.

A: Do you ever buy products online?

B: Sometimes I do. Last month, I __________ (find) a great Website where I can download music for
one dollar. So far, I ____________ (download) about a hundred songs, and I _________ (make)
several CDs. My old computer _________ (not/have) burner, so I’m very happy with my new one.

A: __________ (you/sell) your old computer?

B: No. It was about eight years old. I just ________ (remove) the hard drive and __________ (leave)
the computer on top of the garbage dumpster. When I _________ (pass) by a few hours later, it
was gone. Someone _______ (take) it.

B. Direction: Change the verb in the parentheses into the correct form of simple past or
present perfect verb.

Since computers were first introduced to the public in the early 1980’s, technology (change)
__________ a great deal. The first computers (be) _________ simple machines designed for basic
tasks. They (have/not) ___________ much memory and they (be/not) __________ very powerful.
Early computers were often quite expensive and customers often (pay) ___________thousands of
dollars for machines which actually (do) __________ very little. Most computers (be) __________
separate, individual machines used mostly as expensive typewriters or for playing games.

However, times (change) _________. Computers (become) __________ powerful machines with very
practical applications. Programmers (create) _________ a large selection of useful programs which
do everything from teaching foreign languages to bookkeeping. We are still playing video games, but
today’s games (become) __________ faster, more exciting interactive adventures. Many computer
users (get/also) ____________ on the internet and (begin) ________________ communicating with

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other computer users around the world. We (start) ________________ to create international
communities online. In short, the simple, individual machines of the past (evolve) ___________ into
an international World Wide Web of knowledge.

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