Physicist and chemist — Henry Cavendish (Nice, 1731 – London, 1810) was a British physicist and chemist, of aristocratic family and famous for his extremely reserved and reclusive character. He carried out research of great rigour in chemistry and physics, identifying hydrogen as a distinct substance (“inflammable air”) and determining the composition of water. His most celebrated work is the 1798 experiment with the torsion balance, with which he measured the gravitational force between masses in the laboratory, effectively obtaining an accurate value for the density of the Earth and, indirectly, for the universal gravitational constant. Many of his results, such as discoveries about electricity, remained unpublished and were recognised only after his death.
Trivia
Cavendish was so shy and solitary that he communicated with his servants by notes; most of his discoveries about electricity remained in drawers and were rediscovered by Maxwell a century later, when he organised his papers.
Theories and contributions
- Cavendish experiment — Measurement of the gravitational force between masses using a torsion balance, which allowed the determination of and the Earth’s density.
- Discovery of hydrogen — Identified “inflammable air” as a distinct element and showed that water is formed by its combustion.
Present in chapters
Linked atoms
2 linked atoms.