The gas we now call oxygen was discovered in the 1770s by more than one scientist, mainly Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Joseph Priestley, and its true nature was later explained by Antoine Lavoisier.

Quick Scoop: Who “invented” oxygen?

If you’re asking “who invented oxygen,” the short answer is that no one invented it —it’s a natural element—but several chemists independently discovered and understood it in stages.

Key names to know

  • Carl Wilhelm Scheele (Sweden)
    • Around 1772, Scheele heated compounds like potassium nitrate and mercuric oxide and produced a gas he called “fire air,” which made things burn more intensely.
* Most historians consider Scheele the first to _prepare_ oxygen, but he published his findings late, so he often gets less credit.
  • Joseph Priestley (England)
    • On 1 August 1774, Priestley heated red mercuric oxide and obtained a gas in which candles burned brightly and mice (and then he himself) breathed very well.
* He called it “dephlogisticated air” and published his work quickly, so he was long hailed as the discoverer of oxygen.
  • Antoine Lavoisier (France)
    • Lavoisier used results from Priestley and others to argue that this gas was not “dephlogisticated” anything, but a fundamental component of air involved in combustion and respiration.
* He named it “oxygen” and helped launch modern chemistry by overturning the old phlogiston theory.

So who gets credit?

  • Many modern references say oxygen was discovered by Scheele (first to obtain it) and independently by Priestley , while Lavoisier gets credit for correctly explaining what it is and giving it the name “oxygen.”
  • In school-level quizzes, the “correct” answer sometimes depends on the source: some list Scheele, some Priestley, and some mention both.

TL;DR: Oxygen wasn’t invented, but it was first prepared by Carl Wilhelm Scheele around 1772, independently discovered and published by Joseph Priestley in 1774, and scientifically explained and named “oxygen” by Antoine Lavoisier soon after.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.