Raoul Pictet facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Raoul-Pierre Pictet
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Raoul-Pierre Pictet
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| Born | 4 April 1846 |
| Died | 27 July 1929 (aged 83) |
| Nationality | Swiss |
| Known for | Liquid nitrogen |
| Awards | Davy Medal (1878) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | University of Geneva |
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Raoul-Pierre Pictet (born April 4, 1846 – died July 27, 1929) was a smart Swiss scientist. He was a physicist, which means he studied how things like energy and matter work. He is famous for being one of the first people to turn oxygen gas into a liquid. He did this in 1877, around the same time as another French scientist, Louis-Paul Cailletet.
About Raoul-Pierre Pictet
Raoul-Pierre Pictet was born in a city called Geneva in Switzerland. He later became a professor at the university there. He spent a lot of his time working on ways to make things very cold. He also worked on turning gases into liquids or even solids.
How Pictet Liquefied Oxygen
On December 22, 1877, something amazing happened. The French Academy of Sciences in Paris got a message from Pictet. He sent a telegram from Geneva saying: "Oxygen liquefied to-day under 320 atmospheres and 140 degrees of cold by combined use of sulfurous and carbonic acid."
This meant he had successfully turned oxygen gas into a liquid! He did this by using very high pressure and very low temperatures. He used special chemicals, sulfurous acid and carbonic acid, to help make things super cold.
At almost the same time, another scientist named Louis-Paul Cailletet also liquefied oxygen. But Cailletet used a different method. This was a big step forward in science. It showed that gases like oxygen could be changed into a liquid form.
Pictet passed away in Paris in 1929.
See also
- Liquefaction of gases
- Timeline of low-temperature technology
