Amedeo Avogadro

Lorenzo Romano Amedeo Carlo Avogadro, Conte di Quaregna e Cerreto ( born August 9, 1776 in Turin, † July 9, 1856 ) was an Italian physicist and chemist.

Life

Avogadro initially studied law; He came from a family of lawyers. In 1796 he became a doctor of canon law. Since 1800, he studied mathematics and physics, which his inclinations corresponded more closely. 1803 was his first publication about physics. In 1809 he became professor of natural philosophy at the Real Collegio in Vercelli. Here he developed his molecular hypothesis. In 1820 he was appointed Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Turin. In 1840 he was elected a member of the Scholars Academy Leopoldina.

Avogadro dealt with the relationship of the electrochemical series and the affinity of the elements of the specific heat of gases and atomic and molecular volumes. His goal was to characterize the chemical properties of the compounds by physical properties.

In 1811 he published his hypothesis that equal volumes of different ideal gases at the same temperature and pressure contain the same number of particles (molecules ) (see also Avogadrosches law, Avogadro's number ). He then asked himself the elementary gases composed of molecules of two atoms ago. The work remained unnoticed for a long time, so André- Marie Ampère in 1814 the same thought expressed. This view was in contrast to that of Jöns Jacob Berzelius, one of the luminaries of the chemistry of the 19th century. Only in 1860 was admitted to the chemist Congress in Karlsruhe the Avogadro thought, represented there by his pupil Stanislao Cannizzaro. This could resolve many contradictions in terms of the atom, the molecule and the equivalent.

The mineral Avogadrit (1926) and the lunar crater Avogadro were named after him. He is named after the Università degli Studi de Piemonte Orientale " Amedeo Avogadro ".

Writings

• Fisica de ' corpi ponderabili ossia della Trattato costituzione generale de' corpi, 4 volumes, Turin from 1837 to 1841.