Rowlwayclemal
- 25/06/2012
Invention of Lithium
Dr. Doug Stewart
Lithium was discovered by Johan Arfvedson in 1817, during an inquiry of petalite
(LiAlSi4O10).
He found the petalite contained ¡°silica, alumina and an alkali.¡± (1)
The new alkali metal in the petalite had unique properties.
It required more acid to delete it than sodium and its carbonate was no greater than sparingly soluble in water ¨C unlike sodium carbonate.
The imaginative alkali differed from potassium because it did not persuade a reckless with tartaric acid.
Arfvedson tried to produce a sterling sampling of the unique metal sooner than electrolysis, but he was ineffective; the battery he occupied was not effectual enough. (2)
The sanitary metal was isolated the following year on both William Brande and Humphry Davy working independently.
Davy obtained a small sum of lithium metal close to electrolysis of lithium carbonate. (3)
He noted the stylish ingredient had a red heartthrob color a certain extent like strontium and produced an alkali colloidal suspension when dissolved in water.
In days less safety-conscious than the now, Brande said of lithium, ¡°its solution tastes acrid like the other unfluctuating alkalies.¡± (4)
By way of 1855 Robert Bunsen and Augustus Matthiessen were independently producing the metal in substantial quantities at hand electrolysis of molten lithium chloride.
Lithium¡¯s respect is derived from the Greek confab ¡®lithos¡¯ intention, ¡®stone.¡¯