A word I know, six letters it contains, remove one letter and 12 remains. What is it?

A word I know, six letters it contains, remove one letter, and twelve remains. What am I? Scroll down to find the answer. Answer - Dozens.

the penalty for defying creon's decree is death, as can be seen in the tragedy. if you do obey him however, all is forgiven

your answer is c) experiments with water vapor showed that elements combine in specific proportions.