chemistry question #154

Kaitlyn Muller, a 15 year old female from the Internet asks on March 16, 2000,


Could you tell me who discovered arsenic and when?

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the answer

Barry Shell answered on March 16, 2000, A:

If you are coming here for a school assignment the answer might be Albertus Magnus. But Arsenic has been known since ancient times. It is so old, nobody knows who truly first discovered it or when. According to Web Elements (click on element #33, As, Arsenic) "Arsenic compounds were mined by the early Chinese, Greek and Egyptian civilizations. No doubt they discovered its toxic properties early on. It is believed that Albertus Magnus isolated the element in 1250 A.D. by heating soap together with orpiment (arsenic trisulphide, As2S3)."

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