Joseph Priestley Research Paper

Joseph Priestley was a famous chemist who changed the world. Joseph was born March 24th, 1773 in Birstall, United Kingdom. Joseph was a very intelligent man who taught himself many languages. He was the eldest son in a family of wool-cloth makers. His family were also Dissenters. Dissenters were people unwilling to conform to the Church of England, which at the time was not good for Joseph’s academic future. Dissenters were prevented from attending England’s great universities because of the Act of Uniformity passed in 1662. Since Joseph could not attend any universities, he enrolled at Daventry Academy - a celebrated academy for Dissenters. At Daventry, he studied sciences, philosophy, languages, literature, and became a freethinker in religion.
Joseph Priestley began conducting experiments and and made a very important observation. He observed that a flame would go out, and a mouse would suffocate when placed in a sealed jar. Moreover, putting a green plant in the jar and exposing the jar to sunlight would “refresh” the air, letting the flame burn and the rodent breathe. Perhaps, Priestley wrote, "the injury which is continually done by such a large number of animals is, in part at least, repaired by the vegetable creation." Joseph had just observed, but did not explain, photosynthesis. Continuing with his experiments, on August 1, 1774, Joseph made his most important discovery. He used a magnifying lens to focus sunlight on mercuric oxide placed in an inverted glass container in a pool of mercury. A colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas was emitted from the lump. He knew what he discovered was different from a similar quantity of air because the gas caused a flame to burn intensely, and kept a mouse alive about four times longer than ordinary air. Priestley also noticed that he felt different when he breathed the gas. "The feeling of it in my lungs," Priestley wrote, "was not sensibly different from that of common air, but I fancied that my breast felt peculiarly light and easy for some time afterwards…” Therefore, Joseph Priestley had just discovered oxygen gas. Another important
Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen gas, as well as many others. By discovering that “air” was made of many different “airs” Joseph led the way for future scientists. “Scientists now recognize 92 naturally occurring elements-including nitrogen and oxygen, the main components of air. They comprise 78 and 21 percent of the atmosphere, respectively.” His discovery continues to benefit society everyday in health and medicine, as well as in certain industries such as mining or welding. Priestley’s invention of carbonated water also shaped society by being the precursor for the 97.82 billion dollar soft-drink industry - as reported in