Britannica
Sources used in this answer
Who proved that chlorine is a chemical element in 1810?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
chlorine
Properties of chlorine.
In 1810, the English chemist Sir Humphry Davy proved that chlorine is a chemical element.12
While the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele had first isolated the gas in 1774 by treating manganese dioxide with hydrochloric acid, he failed to recognize it as an element. Davy’s work demonstrated that the substance was not a compound containing oxygen, as previously theorized, but an element in its own right. He subsequently named it chlorine, derived from the Greek word chloros, meaning "yellowish green".21