Stanislao Cannizzaro in Italy. He is best known for his contribution to the then-existing debate over atoms, molecules, and atomic weights. He championed Amedeo Avogadro's notion that equal volumes of gas at the same pressure and temperature held equal numbers of molecules or atoms, and the notion that equal volumes of gas could be used to calculate atomic weights. In so doing, Cannizzaro provided a new understanding of chemistry. Stanislao Cannizzaro Stanislao Cannizzaro FRS (13 July 1826 – 10 May 1910) was an Italian chemist. He is remembered today largely for the Cannizzaro reaction and for his influential role in the atomic-weight
Electrolysis of water reactions predominate in basic (high pH) solutions. Combining either half reaction pair yields the same overall decomposition of water into oxygen and hydrogen: The number of hydrogen molecules produced is thus twice the number of oxygen molecules. Assuming equal temperature and pressure for both gases, the produced hydrogen gas has therefore twice the volume of the produced oxygen gas. The number of electrons pushed through the water is twice the number of generated hydrogen molecules and four times the number of generated oxygen molecules. Decomposition of pure water into hydrogen and oxygen at standard temperature and pressure is not favorable