ANTOINE LAVOISIER

1. A meticulous experimenter revolutionized chemistry. He established the law of conservation of mass,

determined that combustion and respiration are caused by chemical reactions with what he named
“oxygen,” and helped systematize chemical nomenclature, among many other accomplishments.

2. Antoine Lavoisier's experiments with heat and combustion of substances led to the development of
the law of conservation of mass which states that during a chemical change matter is not created or
destroyed.

3. Among his important contributions were the application of the balance and the principle of
conservation of mass to chemistry, the explanation of combustion and respiration in terms of
combination with oxygen rather than loss of phlogiston (See chapter 5.), and a reform of chemical
nomenclature. Among his contributions to chemistry associated with this method were the
understanding of combustion and respiration as caused by chemical reactions with the part of the air (as
discovered by Priestley) that he named “oxygen,” and his definitive proof by composition and
decomposition that water is made up of oxygen and hydrogen.

4. Antoine Lavoisier determined that oxygen was a key substance in combustion, and he gave the
element its name. He developed the modern system of naming chemical substances and has been called
the “father of modern chemistry” for his emphasis on careful experimentation.