Question

Who defined an element as a basic form of matter that cannot be broken down into simpler substances by chemical reaction?
A.Wilhelm Weins
B.William J. Crooke
C.Antoine Lavoisier
D.Carl Bosch

Answer 1

Hint: Elements were first classified on the basis of their properties by the French chemist in 1789. He grouped them into non-metals, metals, gases and earthly metals. He gave the book ‘Elements of chemistry’ and also gave chemical nomenclature.

Complete step by step answer:
-A French nobleman and chemist from the 18th century chemical revolution posed a large influence on the history of chemistry and biology. He’s regarded as the father of modern chemistry. He wrote the book ‘Elements of Chemistry’ in 1787 and published ‘Method de nomenclature chimique’. He’s none other than Antoine Lavoisier. He compiled the first complete list of elements discovered and helped to develop the metric system and standardised chemical nomenclature.
-In chemistry, a pure substance which is made up of only one kind of atom that cannot be broken into two or more simpler substances by any physical or chemical means is termed as an element. Antoine Laurent Lavoisier was a French chemist who first established this experimentally useful definition of an element.
-Along with him, Louis-Bernard Guyton, Claude-Louis Bartholet and Antoine Francois de Fourcroy submitted a new reform of chemical nomenclature called Method of Chemical Nomenclature. The classical elements were discarded and some 55 substances which cannot be decomposed into simpler substances were listed as elements. These include oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, sulphur, boric acid, etc.
-Therefore, now we know that Antoine Lavoisier defined an element as a basic form of matter that cannot be broken down into simpler substances by chemical reaction.

Hence, the correct option is (C).

Note:
Lavoisier suggested that the name of a compound should reflect its elements. Based on his suggestion ‘Flowers of zinc’ was renamed as zinc oxide (a compound having zinc and oxygen) and ‘oil of vitriol’ renamed as sulphuric acid (a compound having sulphur, oxygen and hydrogen).