Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner

Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner (December 13, 1780 – March 24, 1849) was a German chemist. December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1780 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... March 24 is the 83rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (84th in Leap years). ... 1849 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Chemistry (in Greek: χημεία) is the science of matter and its interactions with energy and itself (see physics, biology). ...

As a coachman's son, Döbereiner had little opportunity for formal schooling, but he was apprenticed to an apothecary, read widely, and attended learned science lectures. Eventually from 1810 he was professor of the University of Jena. He is known especially for his discovery of similar triads of elements in 1829, a step in the development of the periodic law. He discovered furfural, worked on the use of platinum as a catalyst, and invented a lighter (known as Döbereiner's lamp) that is ignited by the action of hydrogen on a platinum sponge. Döbereiner observed that if a jet of hydrogen was directed at the platinum from a distance of 4 cm so that it was premixed with air, the platinum became red-hot, then white-hot and the jet ignited spontaneously. This discovery, in which fire was produced without flint and tinder, quickly created an international sensation and was immediately tested and confirmed by many chemists and physicists. 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... See also Jena, Louisiana, United States. ... 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The periodic table of the chemical elements, also called the Mendeleev periodic table, is a tabular display of the known chemical elements. ... The chemical compound furfural is an industrial chemical derived from a variety of agricultural byproducts, including corncobs, oat and wheat bran, and sawdust. ... Platinum is also a certification by the RIAA and other world recording industries, see: RIAA certification General Name, Symbol, Number Platinum, Pt, 78 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 10 , 6, d Density, Hardness 21. ... General Name, Symbol, Number Hydrogen, H, 1 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 1 (IA), 1 , s Density, Hardness 0. ...