Episode 1 of 2
Lavoisier proposes silica as an oxide of an unknown element
- When
- 1787
- Where
- Lavoisier's Paris milieu
In 1787 Lavoisier suspected silica was an oxide of a fundamental element but could not reduce it, leaving the element hypothetical.
Antoine Lavoisier suspected that silica might be an oxide of a fundamental chemical element. Because silicon's affinity for oxygen was high, he had no means to reduce the oxide and isolate the element, so his proposal remained a conjecture about a hitherto unknown substance. The same year he helped write the first extensive list of elements, in which he predicted the existence of silicon.
Sources
- Silicon Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-30
- Antoine Lavoisier Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-27
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.