INSTRUCTIONS: Read the case study of Lavoisier’s Oxygen Theory of Burning carefully and answer

the following questions comprehensively. (50 points)

LAVOISIER’S OXYGEN THEORY OF BURNING: A CASE STUDY

Up to the 18th Century, people believe that the substances which readily burned contained
a sort of spirit called “ Phlogiston”, which escaped into the air during burning. This belief then
called the phlogiston theory of burning, lasted for many years. Joseph Priestley, an English
clergyman and amateur scientist believed in it.

In 1774 Priestley, using a lens, focused the sun’s rays on mercuric oxide, a strange gas was
formed. He continued experimenting with mercuric oxide, and collected the gas that was
evolved from it when heated strongly. He observed that the candle burned brightly in the
presence of unknown gas. And felt wonderful light when he inhaled some of the gas. Thus, he
described it as perfect air or very active air.
Sometimes later, Priestley, visited a friend, Antoine Lavoisier, a brilliant French chemist told
Lavoisier his discovery.

Lavoisier pondered over Priestley’s discovery for months. He wondered why the red gave off
gas when heated… how it got gas in the first place. He asked himself: what really happens when a
substance burns-does it give off something (phlogiston theory of burning), or does it combine with
something from the air? If something is given off, then it would mean a decrease with mass after
burning. If something from the air combines with a substance during burning, then it would mean
an increase in the mass after burning. He suspected that the latter was probably the case. He
tested his hypothesis. He reproduced Priestley’s experiment under more carefully controlled
conditions (quantitative observations rather than qualitative observations only).
Lavoisier put mercury into a glass vessel, and sealed it. He weighed the vessel and its
contents, then applied heat to it. A red powder soon appeared inside the vessel. He weighed the
vessel again, then compared it before heating. There was no change in mass. This is expected
since the vessel was sealed. Nothing has entered or escaped from it during heating.

When Lavoisier broke the glass seal, air rushed into the vessel. This phenomenon indicated
that some of the air rushed into the vessel must have been used up during the heating process
and left space for more air to enter. Lavoisier assumed that part of the air in the vessel must have
combined with mercury to form the red powder.

Lavoisier, however did not jumped into any hasty conclusion. He wanted more proofs. He
continued the investigation but, this time, he reversed the experiment. He put mercuric oxide in a
vessel and heated it to a high temperature. He found that a) the red powder was changed back
into mercury, and b) a gas was released in the process. This was exactly the same gas which
priestly observed. Lavoisier finally concluded that this gas which he called oxygen, combines with
combustible materials when they burn. This is called oxygen theory of burning, which is now the
accepted explanation for burning.

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1. In paragraph no.3 Priestly shared with Lavoisier his discovery of a “perfect air”. Which of
the scientific traits did Priestly exhibit in this paragraph ? Choose one trait only. How is
the trait used in science?
A. patience B. gratitude
C. open-mindedness D. acceptance of failure

2. State the problem that Lavoisier decided to investigate.

3-4. State the Hypothesis (to answer the problem in no.2 above) by using the “if-then” statement.
"If [I do this] , then [this] will happen.

5. Which paragraph described the experiment that Lavoisier performed to test his hypothesis? Give
only the number of the paragraph.

6. In paragraph number 6 why did air rush into the vessel when Lavoisier broke the glass seal?

7. Which paragraph shows Lavoisier’s INTERPRETATION of his OBSERVATIONS. Give only the number
of the paragraph.

8. What conclusion did Lavoisier draw from his investigation?

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9. What trait did Lavoisier show in paragraph no.7? Choose one trait only. Why is the trait useful in
scientific investigations?
A. humility B. open-mindedness
C. acceptance of failure D. perseverance

10. Draw an image of a fire triangle.

11. Explain the implication of the fire triangle.

12. Present a chemical equation of combustion.

13. Identify the reactants based on the above chemical equation.

14. Identify the products based on the above chemical equation.

15. Aside from existence of God and value judgment, explain why beauty appreciation is also con-
sidered a limitation of scientific method.

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