The person credited with discovering carbon is Antoine Lavoisier.
While carbon has been known and used by humans for thousands of years in forms like charcoal and soot, it was not identified as a distinct element until the work of Antoine Lavoisier.
Lavoisier's Experiment:
- In 1772, Lavoisier conducted experiments using diamonds and charcoal, both known forms of carbon.
- He carefully weighed samples of these materials and burned them.
- He observed that neither material produced water when burned.
- He found that both charcoal and diamond released the same amount of carbon dioxide per gram when burned.
This meticulous work allowed him to demonstrate that diamonds and charcoal were in fact the same element in different forms. This marked the formal scientific recognition of carbon as an element.
Key Findings:
Lavoisier's findings proved that:
- Diamonds are a form of carbon.
- Charcoal is a form of carbon.
- The same amount of carbon dioxide is released per gram when burning either material.
Therefore, while humans had interacted with carbon in various forms for a long time, Lavoisier's experiments formally established it as a distinct chemical element.
