Experiments of world famous chemists

In lavoisier, a small amount of mercury (mercury) was put into a closed container and heated continuously for 12 days. It was found that some silvery white liquid mercury turned into red powder, and the air volume in the container was almost reduced by one fifth. Lavoisier studied the remaining part of the air, and found that this part of the air can neither provide life-sustaining breath for humans and animals, nor support the combustion of combustible substances. This gas was later called nitrogen.

Lavoisier collected the red powder (proved to be mercury oxide) generated on the surface of mercury and put it in another smaller container. After intense heating, mercury and oxygen are obtained, and the volume of oxygen is exactly equal to the reduced air volume in the original closed container. He added the obtained oxygen to about four-fifths of the remaining gas in the previous container, and the gas obtained was exactly the same as air in physical and chemical properties. Through these experiments, lavoisier came to the conclusion that air is composed of oxygen and nitrogen.