The science of chemistry is a science that is deeply incorporated in our everyday lives, but unfortunately, most of the people are most likely not aware of it being so. After reading this article, you will most likely think a bit more about this interesting and fundamental science the next time you will hold a photograph in your hands, or take a photograph with a camera. The occurences that were mentioned can serve as an great example for chemistry reactions that we witness often.

One of the early forms of photography is known as daguerreotype. It was developed by Jacques Daguerre and is based on a processw which involves several different chemicals. The daguerreotype was the first publicly announced photographic process, although there were competing processes at the time. However, the accepted scientific etiquette of the time was that discovery was attributed to the first published invention.

Daguerreotype has a lot to do with chemistry as a science – usually a silver coated copper plate is exposed to iodine vapour before the exposition to light. After the exposition, the plate is are exposed to mercury fumes, which forms a latent image. On this picture nothing can be seen at that moment, because it needs to be developed first. Bathing the plate in a salt bath fixes the image, which means that it doesn’t get any darker, but remains as it was when the image was fixed.

The daguerreotype presented an important invention and part of the history of photography. With time, the photographic methods that were used, became more and more complex, until the discovery of colored photography. In all of these types of photography, chemistry played and still plays an important role, and if one is more interested in learning about the chemistry of these processes, it is always a good idea to start with some of the chemistry related tutorials.