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Atoms of Fire: Vitalism disproved through evidence

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Man holds beakers in laboratory
Atoms of Fire: Vitalism disproved through evidence

SUBJECTS:  Science

YEARS:  9–10


Discover how the scientific theory of vitalism, championed by the Swedish chemist Jöns Berzelius, was disproved by his former student Friedrich Wöhler.

Find out the way chemists study how the different atoms in organic compounds combine in set ratios depending on the 'valence' of those atoms.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Supporters of vitalism claimed that organic compounds, such as sugar and alcohol, could only be made by organisms. How could a single experiment disprove this theory? What kinds of atoms are found in most organic compounds?
  2. 2.Wöhler and Kolbe both broke the rule of vitalism. What did each produce and how did it break the rule? Listen for the term valence and what it means. Look for a molecule containing one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. What is the compound?
  3. 3.Vitalists believed organic compounds could only be made by organisms because those compounds had a 'life force'. Explain how the experiments of Wöhler and Kolbe disproved that theory. Find out what compounds each chemist started with to produce urea or acetic acid.
  4. 4.

    Given the valences H =1, O = 2, N = 3 and C = 4, represent following molecules, water (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), ethene (C2H4), nitrogen (N2) and formaldehyde (CH2O). Draw ball and stick models or block and hooks to show how atoms are combined.



Date of broadcast: 13 Aug 2001


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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