PV = K

1. ROBERT BOYLE The Honourable Robert Boyle FRS Born: 25/01/1627 Died: 31/12/1691 Fields: Chemistry, Physics, Natural Philosophy Publications: The Sceptical Chymist (1661) Legacy: Father of modern chemistry. BOYLE’S LAW The absolute pressure exerted by a given mass of an ideal gas is inversely proportional to he volume it occupies if the temperature and amount of gas remain the same within a closed system. PV = K SCIENTIFIC METHOD • Boyle founded the process by which modern science is carried out: • Hypothesis (a proposition) • Prediction (what should happen according to the hypothesis) • Testing (a practical experiment, observation or investigation) • Analysis (whether the results prove the hypothesis correct) • With emphasis placed on: • Replication (repeating an experiment and getting the same results) • Peer review (other experts evaluating your work) • Recording and sharing data (so that other scientists can replicate our experiments) AIR PUMP LITMUS TEST ROYAL SOCIETY In Oxford in the 1650s, Boyle worked with Robert Hooke to build a vacuum chamber in which his theory of gases could be tested. It was one of the earliest and most famous pieces of scientific equipment. Boyle introduced the Litmus test, in which a natural dye is used to tell acids from bases. Litmus turns red in acid and blue in alkali. Boyle was one of twelve people who founded the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge. In 1680 he was offered presidency, but declined as the required oath clashed with his religious views. THE SCEPTICAL CHYMIST This book, published in 1661, rejected Aristotle’s theory of the Four Elements, instead hypothesising that matter consisted of tiny moving particles continually colliding which each other, and introduced the concept of chemical elements. This lead to his legacy as father of modern chemistry.