William Kruykshenk ( born William Cruickshank ; d. 1810 or 1811 ) is an English chemist . He is sometimes called William Kruykshenk of Woolwich (since he taught chemistry at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich , a suburb of London ) to avoid confusion with William Cumberland Kruykshenk .
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| Awards and prizes | member of the Royal Society of London |
Best known for two accomplishments.
In 1787 , Kruykshenk examined the mineral , first discovered in 1764 in a lead mine in the Scottish town of Stronshian ( Gelsk. Srón an t-Sithein ), on the shore of Loch Sunart Lake, Argyle region, and found that it does not match either than previously known; this mineral, called strontianite , was strontium carbonate SrCO3. Kruykshenk and Ader Crawford, who worked with strontianite three years later, agreed that a new chemical element was found - in the next two decades this was confirmed by research by a number of scientists, and as a result, Humphrey Davy in 1807-1808 . isolated strontium in its pure form.
In 1802 , Kruykshenk created the first electric battery suitable for mass production. He arranged square sheets of copper brazed to their edges, along with sheets of zinc of the same size. These sheets were placed in an elongated rectangular wooden box, the cracks of which were sealed with cement. The slots in the walls of the box held the metal sheets in position. Then the box was filled with electrolyte - seawater or diluted acid. This was the first improvement of the voltaic column of Alessandro Volta , with which Kruykshenk corresponded: unlike the Volta battery, the Kruykshenka battery did not dry out and gave more energy.
In some sources, William Kruykshenk of Woolwich is also credited with medical research, especially on proteinuria ; it seems more plausible to consider these studies as belonging to W. K. Kruykshenk .