Amedio Avogadro the Italian physicist was born in Turin, Italy on the 9th June 1776. His father was a famous lawyer there.
He persuaded his son Amedio to study law. Fulfilling the dad’s wish; the son took his first degree in law at the age of 16. However the profession of law did not appeal to him.
Amedio’s keen interest lay in mathematics, physics, chemistry and science on the whole. Among many branches of science he gave priority to experimenting with electricity and atoms.
Avogadro once published an extensive report of the experiments conducted by him and the respective observations and results. But the so called scientists and scholars of his time did not give the report any attention or recognition.
It was only after his death that the scientists drew their attention to Avogadro’s priceless work. They realised that what he had discovered was true worthwhile and extremely important.
The great discoveries he made in respect of temperature, pressure, and volumes of air and particles made him very famous after his death.
His hypothesis, ‘Avogadro’s Law’ states that equal volumes of gases at the same pressure and temperature contain an equal number of molecules.
This led later physicists to determine that the number of molecules in one gram of molecule is constant for all gases. This number, called ‘Avogadro’s Number’ equals 6.02257 × 1023. You will have to study Avogadro’s Law and Avogadro’s Number when you study physics and chemistry in G. C. E. Advanced Level classes.
Amedio Avogadro passed away in 1856 in Turin after a brief illness.
