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Famous Chemists

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Famous Chemists

Scientists who specialize in the area of chemistry are called chemists. There have been many famous chemists throughout history who have made discoveries and breakthroughs that have changed the world. Here are just a few of them:

Famous Chemists

Amedeo Avogadro (1776 – 1856)

Amedeo Avogadro was an Italian scientist who came up with Avogadro’s law which states that equal volumes of all gases contain the same number of molecules when under the same conditions of pressure and temperature. The Avogadro constant was named after him.

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Jons Jacob Berzelius (1779 – 1848)

Jons Jacob Berzelius was a Swedish famous chemists who is most famous for helping to develop the notation for writing chemical formulas. He also played a role in discovering and isolating many elements including silicon, thorium, cerium, and selenium. Many chemical terms are credited to Berzelius such as “allotrope” and “catalysis.” He is called the father of Swedish chemistry.

Robert Boyle (1627 – 1691)

Robert Boyle is often considered the first modern chemist and one of the founders of chemical science. He also pioneered the scientific method. He developed Boyle’s Law which states that, under a closed system with constant pressure, the pressure and volume of a gas are inversely proportional.

Marie Curie (1867-1934)

Marie Cure was a Polish chemist who coined the term radioactivity. She also discovered the elements polonium and radium. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize and won the award twice, once for physics in 1903 and again for chemistry in 1911. The unit for measuring radioactivity, the Curie, is named after her and her husband Pierre.

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John Dalton (1766 – 1844)

John Dalton was an English famous chemists who helped to develop the atomic theory about atoms and elements. In 1803 he presented the first list of atomic weights for a number of substances. Dalton is also known for his work researching color blindness.

Sir Humphry Davy (1778 – 1829)

Sir Humphry Davy is best known for using electrolysis to isolate and discover many elements. He is credited with isolating or discovering sodium, calcium, boron, barium, magnesium, iodine, chlorine, and potassium. He also invented a safety lamp for miners called the Davy lamp.

Rosalind Franklin (1920 – 1958)

Rosalind Franklin was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the discovery of the DNA double helix. Her X-ray diffraction image of DNA played an important role in its discovery. She also performed important research into polio and TMV viruses.

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Antoine Lavoisier (1743 – 1794)

Antoine Lavoisier was a French chemist who is sometimes referred to as the “father of modern chemistry”. He developed the “law of conservation of mass” which states that for any closed system, the mass of the system must remain constant over time.He also proved that sulfur was an element and named the elements oxygen and hydrogen.

Dmitri Mendeleyev (1834 – 1907)

Dmitri Mendeleyev was a Russian chemist who came up with the first periodic table of the elements which he published in 1865. He was able to predict the discovery of many more elements using the table.

Alfred Nobel (1833 – 1896)

Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist and inventor who invented dynamite. He was a prolific inventor and held 350 patents. He is perhaps most famous for starting the Nobel Prize. The element nobelium is named after Alfred Noble.

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Nuclear Energy

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Syskool
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nuclear energy power plant

Nuclear energy is the energy stored inside an atom by the forces that hold together the nucleus of the atom. Capture large amounts of energy from these forces that can then be used to generate electricity.

E = mc2

When working on his theory of relativity, Albert Einstein discovered the mathematical formula E = mc2. This formula demonstrated that matter could be converted into energy. It demonstrated that a large amount of energy could be generated from a very small amount of matter. This could be done by splitting an atom in a process called nuclear fission.

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Nuclear Fission

Nuclear fission is the process of splitting of a large atom into two or more smaller atoms. When an atom is split a huge amount of energy is released. When the energy is released in a slow controlled manner, it can be used to generate electricity to power our homes. When the energy is released all at once, a chain reaction occurs causing a nuclear explosion.

Nuclear Power Plants

One of the major applications for nuclear fission is the nuclear power. Nuclear power plants use nuclear fission to generate heat. They use this heat to create steam from water which, in turn, powers electrical generators.

Nuclear power plants use the element uranium as fuel. Control rods of uranium are used to make sure that the chain reaction of atoms splitting proceeds at a controlled pace.

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Radioactive Waste

One of the by-products of nuclear energy is radioactive waste. This is leftover material from the nuclear reaction. Radioactive material can be dangerous to humans and animal life.

Nuclear power has other applications in addition to power plants. One application is nuclear propulsion in ships and submarines. Nuclear-powered submarines can stay underwater and travel at high speeds for a long time. Nuclear power has also been used in naval ships, ships used for breaking the ice in the polar seas, and space ships.

Nuclear Fusion

Another form of nuclear energy is nuclear fusion. Fusion occurs when two or more atoms are joined together to make a larger atom. Stars get their power from nuclear fusion. Deep inside a star, hydrogen atoms are constantly being converted by fusion into helium atoms. It’s this process that generates the light and heat energy given off by the stars including the Sun.

Scientists have not figured out how to control fusion to create usable energy. If they could it would be great news as fusion produces less radioactive material and would give us a virtually unlimited supply of energy.

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Interesting Facts about Nuclear Energy and Fission

  • The top three states for generating nuclear energy are Illinois, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.
  • The United States generates more nuclear energy than any other nation.
  • In the history of nuclear energy, there have been three major nuclear power plant disasters including Chernobyl (Russia), Three Mile Island (United States), and Fukushima Daiichi (Japan).
  • The first nuclear-powered submarine was the U.S.S. Nautilus which put out to sea in 1954.
  • One uranium pellet can generate the same amount of energy as around 1,000 kilograms of coal.
  • The “smoke” you see coming from a nuclear power plant is not pollution, but steam.

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Fossils

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fossils

A fossil is the preserved remains or impressions of a living organism such as plant, animal, or insect. Some fossils are very old. Fossil help scientists to learn about the past history of life on Earth. They are found all over the world. Most fossil are found in sedimentary rock such as shale, limestone, and sandstone.

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How do fossils form?

There are a number of ways that fossils may form.

  • Amber – Full body insect fossils can be found preserved in hardened tree sap called amber. These fossil can remain preserved in amber for up to millions of years.
  • Carbonization – Carbonization is when all the elements of the organism are dissolved except for the carbon. The carbon leaves a residue which shows an outline of the organism.
  • Casts and molds – A cast or a mold fossil is an impression of a living organism. They are made when an organism dissolves in the Earth and leaves a hollow mold behind. The mold is then filled in by minerals leaving something like a statue of the organism behind.
  • Freezing – Some fossil are preserved in ice. As long as the ice doesn’t melt the fossil may be preserved for thousands of years. Large fossil such as the wooly mammoth have been discovered in the glaciers of the Arctic.
  • Mummification – In really dry areas a fossil may be formed through mummification. This is when the dead organism quickly dries out. Because there is little moisture, the remains of the organism can be preserved for a long time leaving a fossil.
  • Permineralization – Permineralization is when a mineral deposits form a cast of the organism. Fossils formed this way can be very detailed. Common minerals include silicate, carbonate, and pyrite.

Also Read: Erosion

Types of Fossils

There are two main types of fossil: body and trace fossil.

  • Body fossils – Body fossil are fossil where some portion of the actual organism’s body remains as part of the fossil. This might be a tooth or piece of bone.
  • Trace fossils – Trace fossil are fossil where there isn’t any actual part of the original organism, but “traces” of the organism are preserved in rocks and minerals. There are many different types of trace fossils including molds, animal tracks, casts, and impressions.

Interesting Facts about Fossils

  • The word “fossil” comes from the Latin word “fossilis” meaning “obtained by digging.”
  • When a geological process produces a pattern that looks like a fossil but isn’t really, it is called a pseudo-fossil.
  • Paleontologists are scientists that study prehistoric life by studying fossils.
  • The skeletons of dinosaurs have been recreated using fossilized bones found in the earth.
  • Scientists can use dinosaur footprints to determine the speed the dinosaur ran, the number of legs it had, and if the dinosaur traveled in groups.
  • Fossil of rocks called gastroliths have been found. These rocks were swallowed by dinosaurs to help them digest their food.

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Valuable Facts About Hurricanes

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Hurricanes are large, spiraling tropical storms that can pack wind speeds of over 160 mph and unleash more than 2.4 trillion gallons of rain a day. The man who first gave names to hurricanes was an Australian weather forecaster named C. Wragge in the early 1900s.

Valuable Facts About Hurricanes

  • The deadliest U.S. hurricane on record was a Category 4 storm that hit the island city of Galveston, Texas, on
    Sept. 8, 1900. Some 8,000 people lost their lives when the island was destroyed by 15-ft waves and 130-mph winds.
  • When they come onto land, the heavy rain, strong winds, and heavy waves can damage buildings, trees, and cars. The heavy waves are called a storm surge.
  • Every second, a large hurricane releases the energy of 10 atomic bombs.
  • Hurricane season is from June to November when the seas are at their warmest and most humid, which are ripe conditions for a hurricane to develop.
  • The planet Jupiter has a hurricane which has been going on for over 300 years. It can be seen as a red spot on the planet. This hurricane on Jupiter is bigger than the Earth itself.
  • The first time anyone flew into a hurricane happened in 1943 in the middle of World War II.
  • Hurricanes in the Pacific Ocean are known as typhoons.
  • Hurricanes gather heat and energy through contact with warm ocean waters.

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Category of Sustained Winds

Hurricanes are classified into five categories, based on their wind speeds and potential to cause damage.

One—Winds 74-95 miles per hour

Two—Winds 96-110 miles per hour

Three—Winds 111-130 miles per hour

Four—Winds 131-155 miles per hour

Five—Winds greater than 155 miles per hour

Few More Facts About Hurricanes

  • Hurricanes are named by the National Weather Service. Some recent hurricanes have been named Opal, Andrew, Marilyn, Hugo, and Fran.
  • Christopher Columbus wrote the first known report of a hurricane in 1495.
  • Hurricane in the Southern Hemisphere spin in a clockwise direction. Hurricane in the Northern Hemisphere turns counterclockwise.
  • Hurricane never form at the equator because they need the Coriolis Force, which is very weak at the equator, to spin.
  • Hurricane names from six alphabetical lists, each alternating male and female names.

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Unknown Fun Facts About Mountain

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Syskool
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mountain

Mountain makeup about one-fifth of the world’s landscape, and provide homes to at least one-tenth of the world’s people. Heights of mountains are generally given as heights above sea level. The world’s highest peak on land is Mount Everest in the Himalayas. It is 29,036 feet tall.

Unknown Fun Facts About Mountain

  • Ben Nevis is also the highest mountain in Great Britain.
  • The tallest known mountain in the solar system is Olympus Mons, located on Mars.
  • There are mountains under the surface of the sea!
  • Mountains occur more often in oceans than on land; some islands are the peaks of mountains coming out of the water.
  • About 80 percent of our planet’s fresh water originates in the mountains.
  • All mountain ecosystems have one major characteristic in common – rapid changes in altitude, climate, soil, and vegetation over very short distances.
  • Plants that may be found on mountains include conifers, oak, chestnut, maple, junipers, stonecrops, campions, mosses, ferns and climbers.
  • The highest 14 mountains in the world are all found in the Himalayas
  • In some mountainous areas, the rivers are permanently frozen. These are called glaciers.
  • Some of the highest mountains are at the bottom of the sea. Hawaii is at the top of a volcanic mountain in the
    Pacific Ocean. More than half the mountain is below water.
  • Mountains are formed by movements of the huge tectonic plates that make up Earth’s crust.
  • Fold Mountains are formed when plates collide.
  • Block Mountains occur when a slab of land is forced upward.
  • Volcanic mountains are built up from layers of cooled and hardened lava and ash.
  • Some relatively young mountains are still rising, as colliding plates continue to force the land at their edges upward. At the same time, mountains are constantly eroded by ice, rain, and the wind.
  • Mountain tops are cold because the thin air high up does not hold the Sun’s heat well, and the temperature falls 1.8°F (1°C) for every 500 feet (150 m) of height. It is therefore, cold enough to snow over high peaks.
  • The longest mountain chain on land is the Andes, which runs for 4,470 miles (7,200 km) down the western edge of South America.
  • An undersea mountain chain called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is even longer. It stretches 7,000 miles (11,300 km) down the center of the Atlantic Ocean.

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