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Oxygen from Green Leaves under Water in Sunshine (Ingenhousz 1779)
Living leaves make oxygen in light. Put fresh leaves in a clear jar of water, stand it upside down in a tub of water in the sun, and the bubbles that rise from the leaves collect at the top of the jar.
Result: 'dephlogisticated air' (oxygen), more or less pure according to the plant and the clearness of the day. A candle flame grows larger and dazzling in it.
Source: Jan Ingen-Housz, Experiments upon Vegetables (1779), pp. 14-16, 28-30 and lviii. Not given: number of leaves, jar size, time. Picture drawn by Youblob.
Beginner
1 day
Instructions
1
1
Pick leaves in daylight
Pick leaves in daylight
Take leaves from trees or plants in the middle of a warm day and put them straight into cold fresh pump water. Leaves taken this way bubble quickest and give the best air.
Materials for this step:
Leaves (Multiple)1 as requiredTools needed:
Water2
2
Set the jar upside down in water
Set the jar upside down in water
Put the leaves in a very clear glass jar filled with fresh pump water. Stand the jar upside down in a tub full of the same water.
Tools needed:
Pneumatic Trough with Gas JarsWater3
3
Put it in the sun
Put it in the sun
Set it at once in the open air, best in the sunshine. Bubbles form on the leaves, grow, break away and gather at the top of the jar, until the leaves are spent. Light does it, not warmth: by the fire, in shade or in a warm room without sun the air is bad.
Tools needed:
Pneumatic Trough with Gas Jars4
4
Test with a candle
Test with a candle
Plunge a candle flame into the gathered air: in dephlogisticated air it grows larger and dazzlingly bright.
Tools needed:
CandleMaterials
1- 1 as requiredPlaceholder
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