s (or matter). Herepeated many of the experiments of earlier chemists but interpreted the results far differently. On1772 he was studying on combustion, which he is most known for in science. Lavoisier presentedan important memoir on conversion of water into earth evaporation. This brought him to theOxygen Theory of Combustion. On 1774 Lavoisier carried out experiments on calcinations of tinand lead and confirmed the increase of weight of metals on calcinations from combustion of air.By demonstrating the nature of combustion, he disproved the phlogiston theory. The phlogistontheory stated that all flammable materials contained a substance called phlogiston. According tothis theory, materials gave off phlogiston as they burned. Air was necessary for combustionbecause it absorbed the phlogiston that was released. This was thought at the time to be a fact.Lavoisier showed this theory to be false and made oxygen the reason that things burned, notphlogiston. Lavoisier burned textbooks that supported the theory. He was trying to make a pointthat the phlogiston theory was invalid and oxygen is the new answer to combustion. He laid theframework for understanding chemical reactions as combinations of elements to form newmaterials, or products. He concluded that combustion results from the rapid chemical union of aflammable material with a newly discovered gas, which he named "oxygen", previously known asdephilogisticated air. The word oxygen means acid producer. Lavoisier and others had foundthat oxygen is a part of several acids. Lavoisier incorrectly reasoned that oxygen is needed tomake all acids. He developed endings of the degree of oxygen by adding certain ending such as -icor -ous. With French astronomer and mathematician Pierre Simon Laplace, Lavoisier conductedexperiments on the respiration in animals. Their studies showed a similarity between ordinarychemical reactions and the processes that happen in living organisms. These experiment...
