Henry Cavendish

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/henry-cavendish

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Henry Cavendish born?October 10, 1731
2. When did Henry Cavendish die?February 24, 1810 (age 78)
3. Where was Henry Cavendish born?Nice, France
4. What is the career?Independent researcher in chemistry and physics, supported by inherited wealth
5. Who was Henry Cavendish?Henry Cavendish was a brilliant scientist from the 1700s who studied gases and gravity. He discovered the gas we now call hydrogen and measured how heavy the Earth is.
6. What gas did Cavendish discover?He discovered a gas he called "inflammable air," which we now know as hydrogen. He showed that burning it makes water.

Dephlogisticated Air: An early term for oxygen, a gas essential for combustion and respiration, discovered by Joseph Priestley.
Torsion Balance: A sensitive instrument designed to measure extremely weak forces, such as gravitational attraction or electrostatic forces, by the twisting of a fiber.
Gravitational Constant (G): A fundamental physical constant that quantifies the strength of the gravitational force between two masses, crucial for calculating gravitational interactions.
Quantitative Measurement: The process of measuring and expressing physical quantities using numbers and units, essential for rigorous scientific investigation.