Döbereiner's lamp
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Döbereiner's Lamp is a lighter invented by the German chemist Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner.
It 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 or a match, quickly created an international sensation and was immediately tested and confirmed by many chemists and physicists.
The Döbereiner-lighter was invented in 1823 by Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner and was in production until ca. 1880.
The lighter is exhibited in the Deutschen Museum and in the old pharmacy in the Heidelberg Castle.
[edit] External References
- American Scientist Article
- George B. Kauffman (1999). "Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner's Feuerzeug". Platinum Metals Review 43 (3): 122-128.
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