Editing Acetylene (section)

==Discovery==
Acetylene was discovered in 1836 by [[Edmund Davy]], who identified it as a "new carburet of hydrogen".<ref>Edmund Davy (August 1836) [https://books.google.com/books?id=grtZAAAAcAAJ&pg=RA1-PA62 "Notice of a new gaseous bicarburet of hydrogen"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506050712/https://books.google.com/books?id=grtZAAAAcAAJ&pg=RA1-PA62 |date=6 May 2016}}, ''Report of the Sixth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science ...'', '''5''': 62–63.</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Acetylene: Its Properties, Manufacture and Uses |last1=Miller |first1=S. A. |year=1965 |publisher=Academic Press Inc. |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-u1GAQAAIAAJ |access-date=16 July 2021 |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415082551/https://books.google.com/books?id=-u1GAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> It was an accidental discovery while attempting to isolate [[potassium]] metal. By heating [[potassium carbonate]] with carbon at very high temperatures, he produced a residue of what is now known as [[potassium carbide]], (K<sub>2</sub>C<sub>2</sub>), which reacted with water to release the new gas.<ref name="Myers" /> It was rediscovered in 1860 by French chemist [[Marcellin Berthelot]], who coined the name ''acétylène''.<ref>Bertholet (1860) [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3007r/f817.image "''Note sur une nouvelle série de composés organiques, le quadricarbure d'hydrogène et ses dérivés''"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713191835/http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3007r/f817.image |date=13 July 2015 }} (Note on a new series of organic compounds, tetra-carbon hydride and its derivatives), ''Comptes rendus'', series 3, '''50''': 805–808.</ref> Berthelot's empirical formula for acetylene (C<sub>4</sub>H<sub>2</sub>), as well as the alternative name "''quadricarbure d'hydrogène''" (hydrogen quadricarbide), were incorrect because many chemists at that time used the wrong atomic mass for carbon (6 instead of 12).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ihde |first1=Aaron J. |title=The Karlsruhe Congress: A centennial retrospective |journal=Journal of Chemical Education |date=1961 |volume=38 |issue=2 |page=83 |doi=10.1021/ed038p83 |bibcode=1961JChEd..38...83I |url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed038p83 |access-date=29 December 2021 |quote=Atomic weights of 6 and 12 were both in use for carbon. |archive-date=30 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230033049/https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed038p83 |url-status=live }}</ref> Berthelot was able to prepare this gas by passing vapours of organic compounds (methanol, ethanol, etc.) through a red hot tube and collecting the [[effluent]]. He also found that acetylene was formed by sparking electricity through mixed [[cyanogen]] and [[hydrogen]] gases. Berthelot later obtained acetylene directly by passing hydrogen between the poles of a [[arc lamp|carbon arc]].<ref>Berthelot (1862) [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k30115/f640.image.langEN "''Synthèse de l'acétylène par la combinaison directe du carbone avec l'hydrogène''"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814023647/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k30115/f640.image.langEN |date=14 August 2020 }} (Synthesis of acetylene by the direct combination of carbon with hydrogen), ''Comptes rendus'', series 3, '''54''': 640–644.</ref><ref>[http://chestofbooks.com/crafts/metal/Welding-Cutting/Acetylene.html Acetylene] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128110843/http://chestofbooks.com/crafts/metal/Welding-Cutting/Acetylene.html |date=28 January 2012}}.</ref>