Second Grade Chemistry
The typical notion of chemistry is that it is done in a laboratory and it involves chemicals that undergo reactions and possible explosions. This notion of chemistry sends the message that there is risk or danger involved in the study of science. After all, it is a fun and exciting idea to believe that you are doing something potentially dangerous yet potentially brilliant at the same time.
While a lot of chemistry has to do with working in laboratories and testing chemicals or reactions, not all of them blow up, and not all are incredibly risky. In fact, there are many chemistry experiments that don't involve much experimentation. Sometimes they are even accidental discoveries. They simply involve anelement and the testing or using of this element's properties in order to help or aid living.
One such accidental chemical discovery happened to a man named Evangelista Toricelli. Through Galileo's suggestion, he decided to use mercury in his experiments with vacuums. He decided to partially fill a glass tube with mercury and then turn it over, sealing off the tube in a bowl. Not all of the mercury poured out, and a good portion of it stayed inside the tube, creating a type of pillar of mercury which helped seal the tube.
In his experiment, Toricelli was able to create a sustained vacuum with the mercury. His quest to create a sustained vacuum is said to be his original plan. However, as he observed the mercury in his vacuum, he noticed that it would rise and fall from day to day. Without originally intending to do so, Toricelli became the man who invented the weather instrument which we now know as the barometer.
Next Article: Blaise Pascal's Barometer
