Joseph Black Chemistry

In addition to the discovery of latent heat being used for calorimetry, latent heat also brought about changes to the steam engine. As previously mentioned, Joseph Black worked closely to James Watt, inventor of the steam engine, doing several experiments together; their teamwork is what truly what gave rise to the discovery of latent heat. So although Joseph Black did not directly invent the steam engine, his discoveries in the lab is what made the industrial invention possible (Cooper, 1999). A steam engine is a machine that burns coal to release the heat energy it contains; this is what is considered a heat engine. For example, it's comparable to a kettle sitting on top of a fire. The heat from the fire boils the water in the kettle and

He began studying the properties of CO2 in the 1750’s and found that calcium carbonate could either be heated or treated with acids to produce a gas he called "fixed air." He noted that the fixed air was denser than air and didn’t support flame or animal life. He used this finding to show that carbon dioxide is produced by animal respiration and microbial fermentation (Anderson, 2013). The uncovering of carbon dioxide is so critical because it is vital to all life on earth. Plants and animals are connected to each other through the carbon dioxide and oxygen cycle. Plants produce oxygen, a gas that animals and other living creatures need. Animals and other living organisms produce CO2, a gas that plants need to make their own food. Without the discovery of carbon dioxide, humans would not know the essential need for it, the properties of it, and what it is capable of. Along with being essential to human life, carbon dioxide also has various other uses in today’s society. CO2 is used widely as a refrigerant for frozen foods, as well as used in fire extinguishers. The gas has been utilized in heating and cooling equipment since the 19th century, and it is becoming a standard option for all commercial refrigeration. For example, almost two-thirds of large supermarkets surveyed in European countries now use natural refrigerants in their stores, according to a recent study. Among the natural refrigerant options favored by the study’s food retailers is CO2, which is now considered the best option for centralized systems. The majority of the respondents who already use natural refrigerants had chosen CO2 for their centralized system, versus a small percent who opted for a hydrocarbon system. This study just goes to show that the switch to natural refrigerants such as CO2 is proving to be the catalyst for optimizing overall energy management and is a key factor in the