James Stephenson, age 15, of Gadsden, Ala., for his question:

HOW DID THE BUNSEN BURNER GET ITS NAME?

A Bunsen burner is a heating device that is widely used in laboratories because it provides a hot, steady, smokeless flame. It is named for a German chemist, Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, who adapted the concept of a gas air burner in 1855 and popularized its use.

The Bunsen Burner is a short, vertical tube of metal connected to a gas source and perforated at the bottom to admit air. The flow of air is controlled by an adjustable collar on the tube.

Bunsen was educated at the University of Gottingen and taught at the Polytechnic Institute in Kassell and at the universities of Marburg and Breslau. Considered one of the greatest chemists in the world, Bunsen discovered in 1834 the antidote that is still used today for arsenic poisoning: hydrated iron oxide.

Although Bunsen popularized the Bunsen burner, he had little to do with its invention. That credit should go to the British chemist and physicist Michael Faraday.