- Joseph Proust
Infobox Person
name=Joseph Louis Proust
caption=Frenchchemist
quotation=unknown
birth_date=birth date|1754|9|26|mf=y
birth_place=Angers ,France
dead=dead
death_date=death date and age|1826|7|5|1754|9|26|mf=y
death_place=Paris ,France Joseph Louis Proust (
September 26 ,1754 -July 5 ,1826 ) was a Frenchchemist .Life
Joseph Louis Proust was born on September 26, 1754 in
Angers ,France . His father served as an apothecary in Angers. Joseph studied chemistry in his father’s shop and later came to Paris where he gained the appointment of apothecary in chief to the Salpetriere [http://55.1911encyclopedia.org/P/PR/PROUST_JOSEPH_LOUIS.htm] . He also taught chemistry along withPilâtre de Rozier , a famous aeronaut.Under
Carlos IV 's influence Proust went toSpain . There he taught at the Chemistry School inSegovia and at theUniversity of Salamanca .Proust's best known work was derived from a controversy with chemist
C.L. Berthollet . Berthollet did not believe that substances always combine in constant and definite proportions as Proust did. Proust eventually was able to prove Berthollet wrong in 1799 and published his own hypothesis.Chemistry Studies
Proust’s largest improvement into the realm of science was disproving Berthollet with the
law of definite proportions , which is sometimes also known as Prousts Law (Encarta 2005). Proust studied copper carbonate, the two tin oxides, and the two iron sulfides to prove this law. He did this by making artificial copper carbonate and comparing it to natural copper carbonate. With this he showed that each had the same proportion of weights between the three elements involved (Cu, C, O). Between the two types of the other compounds, Proust showed that no intermediate indeterminate compounds exist between them. Proust published this paper in 1794, but the law was not accepted until 1811, when the Swedish chemistJöns Jacob Berzelius gave him credit for it (Encarta 2005).There are, however, exceptions to the
Law of Definite Proportions . An entire class of substances does not follow this rule. The compounds are callednon-stoichiometric compound s or Berthollides, after Berthollet. The ratio of the elements present in the compound can fluctuate within certain limits, such as in the example ofFerrous oxide . The ideal formula is FeO, but due to crystallographic vacancies it is reduced to about Fe0.95O.Proust was also interested in studying the sugars that are present in sweet vegetables and fruits. In 1799, Proust demonstrated, to his class in
Madrid , how the sugar ingrapes is identical to that found inhoney . This later became known asglucose . Overall, Proust discovered three types of sugar during his studies.External links
* [http://nautilus.fis.uc.pt/st2.5/scenes-e/biog/b0059.html Joseph Louis Proust (1754 - 1826)]
* [http://55.1911encyclopedia.org/P/PR/PROUST_JOSEPH_LOUIS.htm Encyclopedia article on him]Persondata
NAME=Proust, Joseph Louis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Frenchchemist
DATE OF BIRTH=September 26 ,1754
PLACE OF BIRTH=Angers ,France
DATE OF DEATH=July 5 ,1826
PLACE OF DEATH=Paris ,France
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