Avogadro Amedeo is a famous Italian physicist and chemist. He is the founder of molecular theory. He received recognition only half a century after his death. In this article, you will be presented with a brief biography of the scientist.
Study
Lorenzo Romano Amedeo Carlo Avogadro was born in Turin (Italy) in 1776. The boy's father, Filippo, served in the judiciary. In total, the family had eight children (Amedeo is the third). In his youth, Avogadro attended the school of experimental physics and geometry. But at that time, professions were inherited, so he was forced to follow in his father's footsteps and take up law. In 1792 Avogadro entered the University of Turin. At 20, Amedeo already had a doctorate in ecclesiastical law. But the young man's interest in physics did not fade away, but only intensified. Five years later, he devoted all his free time exclusively to studying it.
Scientific activity
Work in this field began with Avogadro Amedeo from the study of various electrical phenomena. In 1800, interest in this especially increased, since Volta invented the firstcurrent source. Well, all scientists followed the discussion between Alessandro and Gagliani about the nature of electricity. It is quite clear that Amedeo decided to realize himself in this area.
Avogadro's works on electricity were published until 1846. The scientist actively studied this area. But electricity was not the only area in which Amedeo Avogadro worked. A chemist is his second profession. Thanks to the scientist, a new discipline appeared at the junction of two sciences. They called it electrochemistry. In this area, Avogadro's work came into contact with the works of such famous scientists as Berzelius and Davy.
In 1803 and 1804, Amedeo traveled to the Turin Academy with his brother Felice. There they presented two scientific papers on the theory of electrochemical and electrical phenomena. For this, Avogadro was elected a corresponding member of this academy. In the first work, Amedeo explained the behavior of dielectrics and conductors in an electric field, and also considered the phenomenon of their polarization. Subsequently, his ideas were used by other scientists, in particular Ampère.
New work
In 1806, Avogadro Amedeo became a tutor at the Turin Lyceum, and three years later he got a job as a teacher of mathematics and physics, but in another educational institution. For this, the scientist had to move to the city of Vercelli. Amedeo spent ten years there. During this time, Avogadro re-read a huge amount of literature, making numerous extracts. He did not stop doing this until the end of his life. The total number of statements compiled by him is 75volumes of 700 pages each. By their content, you can see how versatile the interests of the scientist were, and what a colossal work he did in his life.
Confirmation of Gay-Lussac's theory
In 1808, a French scientist who was not yet very famous was studying reactions between gases. His name was Gay-Lussac. In the course of experiments, he found out that the volumes of reacting gases and their derivatives are related as small integers. In 1811, Avogadro confirmed his assumptions with his essay on "Methods for determining the masses of molecules." In the same work, Amedeo came to another important conclusion. It sounded like this: “In the same volumes of any gases, there is always the same number of molecules.”
Law wording
In 1814, Amedeo Avogadro, whose real photograph is in all encyclopedias of physics, published another "Essay on the mass of molecules." In it, the scientist formulated the law, which was later named after him: "At the same temperatures and pressures, equal volumes of gaseous substances correspond to an equal number of molecules." Amedeo also introduced Avogadro's number. This is the number of molecules in a mole of any substance. And this figure is a constant value.
Private life
Avogadro Amedeo started a family rather late. He was almost forty years old. In 1815, the scientist married Anna Mazzier. The wife was 18 years younger than her husband. She bore Amedeo eight children. But none of them followed in the footstepsfather.
Teaching
In 1820, Avogadro was appointed professor at the University of Turin in the department of higher physics. The scientist had his own views on the teaching of this subject. At that time, Italian science was not at a very high level of development. Amedeo wanted to correct this and help his homeland take its rightful place in Europe in this indicator. Therefore, the physicist outlined a detailed plan of action. His main idea was to combine research and teaching.
But due to political and military events in Italy, Amedeo was unable to put his progressive plan into action. In 1822, the University of Turin was closed by the authorities for a whole year due to student unrest. Nevertheless, Avogadro did not stop doing scientific experiments. In 1823, the university resumed its work, and Amedeo returned to the department of physics. In 1832, he headed it and worked in this position for another 18 years.
Recent years
When Amedeo left the university, he got a job as a senior inspector of the Control Chamber. Avogadro was also a member of several commissions whose activities were related to statistics. Despite his advanced age, the scientist continued to publish the results of his research. He published his last work at the age of 77.
Death
Amedeo Avogadro, whose brief biography was presented above, died in 1856. The scientist was buried in Vercelli in the family crypt. A year later, the University of Turin erected a bronze bust of Amedeo.in recognition of his services.
