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Whose discovery established chlorine as a distinct element rather than a compound?

Quick Answer

Carl Wilhelm Scheele’s. In 1774 he prepared chlorine, and later chemists confirmed it was an element.

The Full Story

Carl Wilhelm Scheele first produced chlorine gas in 1774 while studying manganese dioxide and hydrochloric acid. He did not recognize it as an element, but later work by Humphry Davy proved that chlorine was a chemical element, not an oxygen-containing compound. Chlorine became one of the key elements in modern chemistry and industrial chemistry. Its discovery also showed how careful naming and classification matter in science.

Key Facts

1.1774: chlorine was prepared by Scheele
2.Humphry Davy identified it as an element in 1810
3.Chlorine is a Group 17 halogen

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"The gas that scientists first got wrong"

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