Acetylene of 180°. Acetylene was discovered in 1836 by Edmund Davy, who identified it as a "new carburet of hydrogen". It was rediscovered in 1860 by French chemist Marcellin Berthelot, who coined the name "acétylène". Berthelot's empirical formula for acetylene (CH), as well as the alternative name "quadricarbure d'hydrogène" ("hydrogen quadricarbide"), were incorrect because chemists at that time used the wrong atomic mass for carbon (6 instead of 12). Berthelot was able to prepare this gas by passing vapours of organic compounds (methanol, ethanol, etc.) through a red-hot tube and collecting the effluent. He also found that acetylene was formed by
Acetylene in Chemistry in 2000 to Alan J. Heeger, Alan G MacDiarmid, and Hideki Shirakawa. In the early 20th century acetylene was widely used for illumination, including street lighting in some towns. Most early automobiles used carbide lamps before the adoption of electric headlights. Acetylene is sometimes used for carburization (that is, hardening) of steel when the object is too large to fit into a furnace. Acetylene is used to volatilize carbon in radiocarbon dating. The carbonaceous material in an archeological sample is treated with lithium metal in a small specialized research furnace to form lithium carbide (also known as lithium