Amedeo Avogadro Law



Lorenzo Romano Amedeo Carlo Avogadro (August 9, 1776 to July 9, 1856) Avogadro is famous for Avogadro’s Law, which states that two gases of equal volume at the same temperature and pressure contain an equal number of molecules. In honor of him, the number of molecules in a mole of a substance is called Avogadro’s number. Avogadro, who was of noble birth, obtained a degree in ecclesiastical law and started practice in that field, before deciding to pursue a scientific career. At that time, the existence of atoms and molecules was still hypothetical and very controversial. Experiments of Joseph Gay-Lussac had shown that gases reacted in simple integer ratios of volumes. For example, when two liters of hydrogen gas reacted with one liter of oxygen gas two liters of water vapor were produced. Avogadro correctly interpreted these results in terms of his hypothesis that equal volumes of gas contain equal numbers of molecules. For example, the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen can be understood, if hydrogen and oxygen molecules are diatomic, as resulting from this molecular reaction: 2H2 + O2 → 2 H2O. Avogadro’s work was largely ignored during his lifetime but became known shortly after his death and eventually his ideas were shown to be correct. Little is known about Avogadro’s private life, but his obituary in the Gazzetta Piemontese nine days after his death says that he was “religioso senza intolleranza, dotto senza pedanteria” (“religious without intolerance, learned without pedantry”).

Amedeo

Amedeo Avogadro Law Example

Amedeo Avogadro, in full Lorenzo Romano Amedeo Carlo Avogadro, conte di Quaregna e Cerreto, (born August 9, 1776, Turin, in the Kingdom of Sardinia and Piedmont Italy—died July 9, 1856, Turin), Italian mathematical physicist who showed in what became known as Avogadro’s law that, under controlled conditions of temperature and pressure, equal volumes of gases contain an equal number of molecules. Amedeo Avogadro was an Italian scientist who formulated what is now known as Avogadro's law. Hailed as a founder of the atomic-molecular theory, he was the first scientist to realize that elements could exist in the form of molecules rather than as individual atoms. His biggest contribution to science, the Avogadro's law states that equal volumes.