Tony next to his famous experiment

Tony L- Conservation
of Mass

Tony L. (1743-1794) was the
son of a rich lawyer. Tony completed
law school to keep his family happy
even though his real interest and
passion was in science. He became a
famous chemist who became known
as the father of modern chemistry. In
1768 at the young age of 25 Tony was
asked to join France's most elite science program called the Academy of
Sciences. A few years later Tony met a young lady named Marie-Anne
Pierrette Paul and shortly after they got married. Marie-Anne became
Tonys scientific collaborator she taught Tony how to read, write, and speak
English. Since Marie-Anne and Tony could read English they were able to
study the work of British chemist Joseph Priestley who is most famous for
naming the gas Oxygen.

Before Tony came along scientists didnt consider gas to be a form of
matter. They also didnt weigh their chemicals to determine how much was
needed for a certain reaction. Scientists never conducted an experiment in
a closed environment if gas was being released because if there was no
further room for expansion it would cause an explosion.

Tony hypothesized that the loss of weight in a piece of wood when it
is burned can actually be accounted for in the escape of gases into the
atmosphere. To test this hypothesis he ran experiments under an upside
down bowl in a basin of water so there would be room for expansion as the
gas escaped. He found that when he did his experiments under this bowl
some of the water was displaced.
Tony also invented a scale that could measure milligrams so that he
could measure even the smallest differences in weight. He was not
surprised to find out that after the reactions had occurred the weight was
the same as it had been beforehand, meaning that even though the weight
of the solid object had decreased, the gasses in the basin maintained that
weight.
Unfortunately, during the French Revolution Tony was executed, with
the judge claiming that the society had no need for scientists. So, much like
his head, his research was cut off.


A replica of Tonys basin.




















Questions After Reading:
In ordinary speech, we say that you should conserve something,
because if you don't, pretty soon it will all be gone. How is this
different from the meaning of the term conservation in Science?
Why do we need scientists?
Why is it important to continue with research even after an initial
discovery has been made?
Tony formed a hypothesis about where the displaced weight goes
when a log is burned. Why do you think it is important to form and
test hypotheses? What could he have done if he had been wrong?
Tony used problem-solving skills to discover conservation of mass,
through this semester how have you used problem-solving skills in
Science?










References:
http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Under_Construction/chem1/The_Basics/Atoms
%2C_Elements%2C_and_the_Nucleus
http://frpjjab2.weebly.com/scientists.html
http://www.lightandmatter.com/html_books/7cp/ch01/ch01.html
http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-
history/themes/early-chemistry-and-gases/lavoisier.aspx
https://www.boundless.com/chemistry/atoms-molecules-and-ions/history-
of-atomic-structure/the-law-of-conservation-of-mass/