The Discoverer of Acetylene Edmund Davy

• વિશ્વના વૈજ્ઞાનિઓ

You may have seen welding being done to join iron rods and other objects. For welding, gases coming through pipes from two different cylinders meet at the nozzle tip to produce a flame. This gas burns just like a kitchen stove, but it generates enough heat to melt iron. One cylinder contains acetylene gas, and the other contains oxygen. Acetylene burns rapidly in the presence of oxygen. Besides welding, acetylene has many other uses. This gas was discovered by a scientist named Edmund Davy.
Edmund Davy was born in 1785 in Cornwall, Britain. He was the cousin of the famous scientist Humphry Davy. After completing his studies, Edmund joined the Royal Institution as an assistant scientist to Humphry Davy. Later, he began his career as a Professor of Chemistry at the Dublin Society. Edmund Davy discovered a spongy form of platinum capable of absorbing gases from the air. Investigating the effects of heat on various metals was Davy's main subject of study. He also developed a method to detect poisons in metals using electricity. While heating potassium carbonate and carbon, he accidentally discovered the new gas, acetylene. Davy noticed that this new gas also burns at an extremely high temperature in the presence of oxygen. The discovery of acetylene brought him great fame. He passed away on November 5, 1857.