Döbereiner's lamp

In today's world, Döbereiner's lamp has become a topic of interest and debate for a large number of people. Whether due to its historical relevance, its impact on modern society or its connection to current trends, Döbereiner's lamp has captured the attention of a wide audience. Throughout history, Döbereiner's lamp has played a crucial role in multiple aspects of human life, and its influence continues to spread today. In this article, we will explore the different facets of Döbereiner's lamp and examine its importance in the current context. From its impact on popular culture to its relevance in academia, Döbereiner's lamp remains a topic of great interest and deserves detailed attention. Through comprehensive analysis, we will seek to better understand what Döbereiner's lamp represents and its significance in the contemporary world.

Döbereiner's lamp.
Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner (1825)

Döbereiner's lamp, also called a "tinderbox" ("Feuerzeug"), is a lighter invented in 1823 by the German chemist Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner. The lighter is based on the Fürstenberger lighter (invented in Basel in 1780; in which hydrogen gas is ignited by an electrostatically generated spark). Döbereiner's lamp was in production until ca. 1880. In the jar, similar to the Kipp's apparatus, zinc metal reacts with dilute sulfuric acid to produce hydrogen gas. When a valve is opened, a jet of hydrogen is released onto a platinum sponge. The sponge catalyzes a reaction with atmospheric oxygen, which heats the catalyst and ignites the hydrogen, producing a gentle flame.

  • a. glass cylinder
  • b. open bottle
  • c. wire
  • d. zinc
  • e. stopcock
  • f. nozzle
  • g. platinum sponge

The Döbereiner's lamp is considered as the first commercial application of heterogeneous catalysis and was commercialized for lighting fires and pipes. The world's largest manufacturer of these lighters was Heinrich Gottfried Piegler from Schleiz in Thuringia (Germany). It is said that in the 1820s over a million of the "tinderboxes" were sold.

Doebereiner lamp (G. Piegler, 1830)

In Great Britain examples of the lighter are exhibited in the Science Museum in London, in Germany in the Deutsches Museum, the old pharmacy at Heidelberg Castle, the Kulturhistorisches Museum Schloss Merseburg, the Municipal Museum in Braunschweig, the Goethe National Museum in Weimar, the Museum Gunnar-Wester-Haus in Schweinfurt, the Astronomisch-Physikalisches Kabinett Kassel, the Regional Museum Bad Lobenstein, the Municipal Museum Zeulenroda, the Stadtmuseum Gera, the Mineralogical Collection in Jena and at the Museum Bayerisches Vogtland in Hof.

Invoice of the company Gottfried Piegler, Schleiz

See also

References

  1. ^ Reschetilowski, Wladimir (2015). Einführung in die Heterogene Katalyse. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 3. ISBN 9783662469835.
  2. ^ Thomas, John M. (2017). The RSC Faraday prize lecture of 1989. Chem. Commun. Volume 53. p. 9189.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ Thomas, John Meurig; John Thomas, W. (9 February 2015). Principles and Practice of Heterogeneous Catalysis. John Wiley & Sons. p. 16. ISBN 9783527314584.

Further reading