Henry Cavendish lived his life until February 24, 1810. Henry Cavendish performed an experiment to find the density of the Earth. He is best noted for his discovery of hydrogen and the properties of different gases, the synthesis of water, measured Earth’s density. In an age when leading British scientists were largely middle-class, Henry Cavendish stood out for his high aristocratic lineage. Henry Cavendish (1731 – 1810) Henry Cavendish was a British natural philosopher, scientist, and a theoretical chemist. Although without title (he was, however, often addressed by the courtesy title “Honourable”), he was descended from dukes on both sides. Because of the unit conventions then in use, the gravitational constant does not appear explicitly in Cavendish's work. His mother died when he was only two. Henry Cavendish was born on October 10, 1731 and died on February 24, 1810. If their contribution was of scientific worth, they might receive a mumbled reply; but more often than not, as one Lord Brougham recollected, they would encounter a ‘shrill cry’ and a fleeing Cavendish shuffling from the room post-haste. He studied the properties of different gases and the composition of atmospheric air. Once physicists knew the value of G, they could measure accelerations of orbiting and falling objects to calculate the gravitational forces exerted by Earth and other astronomical objects. Henry Cavendish performed the Cavendish experiment - Wikipedia. Henry Cavendish Biography & Contributions. He was able to produce "inflammable air" aka hydrogen by dissolving metals in acids. Likewise, he was the first to obtain hydrogen and derived from his work the calculation of the gravitational constant. His discoveries paved the … HENRY CAVENDISH. He is best known for the discovery of hydrogen. The Cavendish experiment, performed in 1797–1798 by English scientist Henry Cavendish, was the first experiment to measure the force of gravity between masses in the laboratory and the first to yield accurate values for the gravitational constant. Henry Cavendish would have been 78 years old at the time of death or 283 years old today. Although he was a quiet man, he was a dedicated scientist towards his experiments. He didn’t actually design the experiment as I understand it, but he was the first to actually set it up and get results. Henry Cavendish was a British chemist and physicist who made important experimental discoveries, notably the discovery of hydrogen or what he called “inflammable air” and the density of earth. Two small lead spheres were attached to the ends of the rod and the rod was suspended by a thin wire. Henry Cavendish (1731-1810) was a British physicist and chemist known for discoveries such as the composition of water or the calculation of the density of the Earth. Cavendish, Henry (b.Nice, France, 10 October 1731; d.London, England, 24 February 1810), natural philosophy.. He also described the density of water, and determined the density of earth for the first time. Cavendish measured the density of hydrogen. About Contributions Impact References WHAT ARE THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF HENRY CAVENDISH? Image Credit: Henry Cavendish 1798. Henry Cavendish was a British natural philosopher, scientist, and an important experimental and theoretical chemist and physicist. Cavendish was born in 1731 in Nice, France, into an aristocratic English family. Cavendish's apparatus for experimentally determining the value of G involved a light, rigid rod about 2-feet long. Other scientists used his experimental setup to determine the value of G. The setup consisted of a torsion balance to attract lead balls together, measuring the torque on a wire and then equating it to the gravitational force between the balls. The value of G was not experimentally determined until nearly a century later (1798) by Lord Henry Cavendish using a torsion balance.