Joseph Gay-Lussac

1778- 1850

URL ORIGINAL: http://www.newlisbon.k12.wi.us/physicists/gaylus.html

Joseph Gay-Lussac, a French chemist and physicist, is known for his studies on the physical properties of gases.

In 1804 Gay-Lussac made balloon ascensions to study magnetic forces and to observe the composition and temperature of the air at different altitudes. In 1809 he formulated "Gay-Lussac's law of combining volumes," which states that the volumes of the gases involved in a chemical reaction (both reactants and products) are in the ratio of small whole numbers. In connection with these studies he investigated, with German naturalist Baron Alexander von Humboldt, the composition of water and found it forms when two parts of hydrogen and one of oxygen unite. (water)

In 1809 Gay-Lussac worked on the preparation of potassium and boron and investigated the properties of chlorine and hydrocyanic acid. In the field of industrial chemistry, he developed improvements in various manufacturing and assaying processes.