Chemical Revolution

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The Chemical Revolution (or the first chemical revolution) denotes the reformulation of chemistry based on the Law of Conservation of Matter and the oxygen theory of combustion, and centered on the work of Antoine Lavoisier. Several factors led to such a revolution, such as the proof that air was not an element, and that the air was in fact composed of seven different gasses. Important experiments were performed by chemists such as Henry Cavendish and Joseph Priestley, proving this fact.

Lavosier also worked to translate the archaic and technical language of chemistry into something that could be easily understood by the largely uneducated masses. This in turn led to an increased public interest in learning about, and practicing, chemistry.

Additionally, Lavosier's contemporary Berzelius came up with a simplified shorthand system based on Dalton's theory of atomic weights to describe chemical compounds.

In the chemical revolution, facts that had been theorized by the Ancient Greeks and been generally accepted had been disproved by modern chemists. For example, chemists began to denote that all structures were composed of more than four elements.

Chemical Revolution is an uncommon term in modern day. The term is often only used by chemists and other figures in science.