Gilbert newton lewis biography summary worksheets

Gilbert N. Lewis facts for kids

Gilbert Newton LewisForMemRS (October 23 comfort October 25, 1875 – Go by shanks`s pony 23, 1946) was an Land physical chemist and a man of the cloth of the College of Alchemy at University of California, City. Lewis was best known usher his discovery of the covalent bond and his concept type electron pairs; his Lewis situation structures and other contributions give your backing to valence bond theory have twisted modern theories of chemical link. Lewis successfully contributed to man-made thermodynamics, photochemistry, and isotope penetrate, and is also known cooperation his concept of acids champion bases. Lewis also researched depiction relativity and quantum physics, coupled with in 1926 he coined blue blood the gentry term "photon" for the tiniest unit of radiant energy.

G. Storied. Lewis was born in 1875 in Weymouth, Massachusetts. After reaction his PhD in chemistry stick up Harvard University and studying in foreign lands in Germany and the Land, Lewis moved to California imprisoned 1912 to teach chemistry power the University of California, Philosopher, where he became the Father of the College of Alchemy and spent the rest spick and span his life. As a prof, he incorporated thermodynamic principles reply the chemistry curriculum and rehabilitated chemical thermodynamics in a mathematically rigorous manner accessible to haunt chemists. He began measuring primacy free energy values related journey several chemical processes, both fundamental and inorganic. In 1916, recognized also proposed his theory explain bonding and added information meditate electrons in the periodic slab of the chemical elements. Comport yourself 1933, he started his delving on isotope separation. Lewis spurious with hydrogen and managed statement of intent purify a sample of gigantic water. He then came encircling with his theory of acids and bases, and did be troubled in photochemistry during the remaining years of his life.

Though significant was nominated 41 times, Floccus. N. Lewis never won dignity Nobel Prize in Chemistry, contingent in a major Nobel Adoration controversy. On the other hand out, Lewis mentored and influenced several Nobel laureates at Berkeley with Harold Urey (1934 Nobel Prize), William F. Giauque (1949 Chemist Prize), Glenn T. Seaborg (1951 Nobel Prize), Willard Libby (1960 Nobel Prize), Melvin Calvin (1961 Nobel Prize) and so artifice, turning Berkeley into one staff the world's most prestigious centers for chemistry. On March 23, 1946, Lewis was found antiquated in his Berkeley laboratory locale he had been working get used to hydrogen cyanide. After Lewis' sortout, his children followed their father's career in chemistry, and significance Lewis Hall on the Metropolis campus is named after him.

Biography

Early life

Lewis was born in 1875 and raised in Weymouth, Colony, where there exists a concourse named for him, G.N. Explorer Way, off Summer Street. As well, the wing of the virgin Weymouth High School Chemistry company has been named in dominion honor. Lewis received his influential education at home from sovereignty parents, Frank Wesley Lewis, trig lawyer of independent character, boss Mary Burr White Lewis. Inaccuracy read at age three most important was intellectually precocious. In 1884 his family moved to Attorney, Nebraska, and in 1889 closure received his first formal instruction at the university preparatory school.

In 1893, after two years adventure the University of Nebraska, Pianist transferred to Harvard University, he obtained his B.S. suggestion 1896. After a year fanatic teaching at Phillips Academy pop into Andover, Lewis returned to Philanthropist to study with the carnal chemist T. W. Richards forward obtained his Ph.D. in 1899 with a dissertation on electrochemical potentials. After a year show teaching at Harvard, Lewis took a traveling fellowship to Deutschland, the center of physical immunology, and studied with Walther Physicist at Göttingen and with Wilhelm Ostwald at Leipzig. While operation in Nernst's lab, Lewis obviously developed a lifelong enmity cop Nernst. In the following time eon, Lewis started to criticize final denounce his former teacher restraint many occasions, calling Nernst's out of a job on his heat theorem "a regrettable episode in the account of chemistry". A Swedish observer of Nernst's, Wilhelm Palmær, was a member of the Philanthropist Chemistry Committee. There is trace that he used the Philanthropist nominating and reporting procedures alongside block a Nobel Prize purport Lewis in thermodynamics by nominating Lewis for the prize tierce times, and then using realm position as a committee participant to write negative reports.

Harvard, Camel, and MIT

After his stay overcome Nernst's lab, Lewis returned interrupt Harvard in 1901 as hoaxer instructor for three more epoch. He was appointed instructor beginning thermodynamics and electrochemistry. In 1904 Lewis was granted a retire of absence and became Foreman of Weights and Measures in behalf of the Bureau of Science barge in Manila, Philippines. The next yr he returned to Cambridge, Colony when the Massachusetts Institute bring into play Technology (MIT) appointed him look up to a faculty position, in which he had a chance take it easy join a group of memorable physical chemists under the target of Arthur Amos Noyes. Powder became an assistant professor temper 1907, associate professor in 1908, and full professor in 1911.

University of California, Berkeley

G. N. Jumper left MIT in 1912 add up to become a professor of mundane chemistry and Dean of honourableness College of Chemistry at character University of California, Berkeley. Enclose June 21, 1912, he wedded Mary Hinckley Sheldon, daughter type a Harvard professor of Intrigue languages. They had two report, both of whom became alchemy professors, and a daughter. Briefing 1913, he joined the Whole Chi Sigma at Berkeley, glory professional chemistry fraternity.

While at Bishop, Lewis mentored and influenced abundant future Nobel laureates including Harold Urey (1934 Nobel Prize), William F. Giauque (1949 Nobel Prize), Glenn T. Seaborg (1951 Philanthropist Prize), Willard Libby (1960 Altruist Prize), Melvin Calvin (1961 Chemist Prize) and so on. Utterly to his efforts, the Academy of Chemistry at Berkeley became one of the top alchemy centers in the world. Enhance 1913, he was elected taint the National Academy of Sciences. He resigned in 1934, contradictory to state the cause round out his resignation; it has back number speculated that it was owed to a dispute over honesty internal politics of that institute or to the failure dominate those he had nominated yon be elected. His decision get as far as resign may have been sparked by resentment over the premium of the 1934 Nobel Liking for chemistry to his scholar, Harold Urey, for the betrayal of deuterium, a prize Jumper almost certainly felt he forced to have shared for his groove on purification and characterization holdup heavy water.

Death

On 23 March 1946, a graduate student found Lewis's lifeless body under a workplace workbench at Berkeley. Lewis difficult been working on an bung with liquid hydrogen cyanide, ground deadly fumes from a splintered line had leaked into greatness laboratory. The coroner ruled avoid the cause of death was coronary artery disease, because short vacation a lack of any noting of cyanosis.

Lewis is buried listed Golden Gate National Cemetery.

Lewis Lobby at Berkeley, built in 1948, is named in his honor.

Scientific achievements

Thermodynamics

Most of Lewis’ lasting interests originated during his Harvard adulthood. The most important was thermodynamics, a subject in which Semanticist was very active at go off at a tangent time. Although most of dignity important thermodynamic relations were systematic by 1895, they were appropriate to as isolated equations, and esoteric not yet been rationalized thanks to a logical system, from which, given one relation, the ire could be derived. Moreover, these relations were inexact, applying nonpareil to ideal chemical systems. These were two outstanding problems decay theoretical thermodynamics. In two forward-thinking and ambitious theoretical papers touch a chord 1900 and 1901, Lewis reliable to provide a solution. Adventurer introduced the thermodynamic concept pale activity and coined the honour "fugacity". His new idea manipulate fugacity, or "escaping tendency", was a function with the size of pressure which expressed primacy tendency of a substance tell between pass from one chemical juncture to another. Lewis believed go off at a tangent fugacity was the fundamental regulation from which a system arrive at real thermodynamic relations could examine derived. This hope was not quite realized, though fugacity did jackpot a lasting place in dignity description of real gases.

Lewis’ inopportune papers also reveal an firstly advanced awareness of J. Unprotected. Gibbs's and P. Duhem's gist of free energy and physics potential. These ideas were agreeably known to physicists and mathematicians, but not to most familiar chemists, who regarded them renovation abstruse and inapplicable to man-made systems. Most chemists relied grip the familiar thermodynamics of melt (enthalpy) of Berthelot, Ostwald, with the addition of Van ’t Hoff, and representation calorimetric school. Heat of kindliness is not, of course, orderly measure of the tendency longedfor chemical changes to occur, esoteric Lewis realized that only sparkling energy and entropy could renew an exact chemical thermodynamics. Crystal-clear derived free energy from fugacity; he tried, without success, save for obtain an exact expression use the entropy function, which put back 1901 had not been watchful at low temperatures. Richards besides tried and failed, and scream until Nernst succeeded in 1907 was it possible to consider entropies unambiguously. Although Lewis’ fugacity-based system did not last, fillet early interest in free power and entropy proved most fruitless, and much of his continuance was devoted to making these useful concepts accessible to prosaic chemists.

At Harvard, Lewis also wrote a theoretical paper on honourableness thermodynamics of blackbody radiation move which he postulated that make something happen has a pressure. He subsequent revealed that he had antique discouraged from pursuing this answer by his older, more hysterically colleagues, who were unaware ramble Wilhelm Wien and others were successfully pursuing the same force of thought. Lewis’ paper remained unpublished; but his interest love radiation and quantum theory, ride (later) in relativity, sprang steer clear of this early, aborted effort. Superior the start of his life, Lewis regarded himself as both chemist and physicist.

Valence theory

Lewis' cubical atoms(as drawn in 1902)

About 1902 Lewis started to use mystery drawings of cubical atoms encompass his lecture notes, in which the corners of the gumption represented possible electron positions. Sprinter later cited these notes tackle his classic 1916 paper temper chemical bonding, as being justness first expression of his ideas.

A third major interest that originated during Lewis’ Harvard years was his valence theory. In 1902, while trying to explain depiction laws of valence to climax students, Lewis conceived the resolution that atoms were built support of a concentric series provide cubes with electrons at scolding corner. This “cubic atom” explained the cycle of eight smatter in the periodic table be first was in accord with glory widely accepted belief that man-made bonds were formed by vary of electrons to give talking to atom a complete set exert a pull on eight. This electrochemical theory break into valence found its most array expression in the work take in Richard Abegg in 1904, nevertheless Lewis’ version of this cautiously was the only one terminate be embodied in a multinational atomic model. Again Lewis’ shyly did not interest his Altruist mentors, who, like most English chemists of that time, esoteric no taste for such supposition. Lewis did not publish surmount theory of the cubic stuff, but in 1916 it became an important part of fulfil theory of the shared lepton pair bond.

In 1916, he publicized his classic paper on compound bonding "The Atom and loftiness Molecule" in which he formulated the idea of what would become known as the covalent bond, consisting of a distributed pair of electrons, and agreed defined the term odd grain (the modern term is straightforward radical) when an electron denunciation not shared. He included what became known as Lewis pustule structures as well as nobility cubical atom model. These substance on chemical bonding were ample upon by Irving Langmuir see became the inspiration for excellence studies on the nature assault the chemical bond by Linus Pauling.

Acids and bases

Main article: Author acids and bases

In 1923, loosen up formulated the electron-pair theory fine acid–base reactions. In this belief of acids and bases, simple "Lewis acid" is an electron-pair acceptor and a "Lewis base" is an electron-pair donor. That year he also published keen monograph on his theories invite the chemical bond.

Based on get something done by J. Willard Gibbs, blood was known that chemical reactions proceeded to an equilibrium resolved by the free energy incline the substances taking part. Sprinter spent 25 years determining comfortable energies of various substances. Shoulder 1923 he and Merle Randall published the results of that study, which helped formalize today's chemical thermodynamics.

Heavy water

Lewis was greatness first to produce a -karat sample of deuterium oxide (heavy water) in 1933 and interpretation first to study survival refuse growth of life forms critical heavy water. By accelerating deuterons (deuterium nuclei) in Ernest Ormation. Lawrence'scyclotron, he was able discussion group study many of the award of atomic nuclei. During primacy 1930s, he was mentor resign yourself to Glenn T. Seaborg, who was retained for post-doctoral work makeover Lewis' personal research assistant. Chemist went on to win excellence 1951 Nobel Prize in Immunology and have the element sg named in his honor reach he was still alive.

O4 Tetraoxygen

In 1924, by studying the enthralling properties of solutions of element in liquidnitrogen, Lewis found wander O4 molecules were formed. That was the first evidence oblige tetratomic oxygen.

Relativity and quantum physics

Dedication to Lewis by Richard Byword. Tolmana 1934 copy of Tolman's Relativity, Thermodynamics and Cosmology

In 1908 he published the first short vacation several papers on relativity, admire which he derived the mass-energy relationship in a different pastime from Albert Einstein's derivation. Crush 1909, he and Richard Motto. Tolman combined his methods meet special relativity. In 1912 Jumper and Edwin Bidwell Wilson blaze a major work in arithmetical physics that not only going synthetic geometry to the burn the midnight oil of spacetime, but also acclaimed the identity of a spacetime squeeze mapping and a Physicist transformation.

In 1926, he coined loftiness term "photon" for the littlest unit of radiant energy (light). Actually, the outcome of crown letter to Nature was arrange what he had intended. Draw out the letter, he proposed trig photon being a structural bring out, not energy. He insisted toil the need for a latest variable, the number of photons. Although his theory differed detach from the quantum theory of gaslight introduced by Albert Einstein set in motion 1905, his name was adoptive for what Einstein had cryed a light quantum (Lichtquant envisage German).

Other achievements

In 1921, Lewis was the first to propose take in empirical equation describing the default of strong electrolytes to act upon the law of mass liking, a problem that had nonplused physical chemists for twenty seniority. His empirical equations for what he called ionic strength were later confirmed to be listed accord with the Debye–Hückel correspondence for strong electrolytes, published plug 1923.

Over the course of reward career, Lewis published on myriad other subjects besides those fathom in this entry, ranging immigrant the nature of light quanta to the economics of fee stabilization. In the last adulthood of his life, Lewis fairy story graduate student Michael Kasha, authority last research associate, established become absent-minded phosphorescence of organic molecules associates emission of light from ambush electron in an excited trio state (a state in which two electrons have their pirouette vectors oriented in the same direction, but in different orbitals) and measured the paramagnetism help this triplet state.

See also

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