All Physical chemistry articles – Page 9
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ResourceChlorophyll fluorescence
Make a plant fluoresce by simply crushing it and shining a light on it.
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ResourceMixing colours
Demonstrate how putting different colours together combine to give the full picture.
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Class experimentElectrochromic polymer
Can polymers conduct electricity as well as metals? Using this experiment, learners will discover how the two materials differ. Includes kit list and safety instructions
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ResourceTitanium Dioxide Photocatalysis: A New Kind of Water Treatment
Part of a series of resources investigating how using titanium dioxide as a photocatalyst can help to create cleaner water using sunlight.
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ResourceA birthday cake candle timer
Use a candle to create a timer, and learn how combustion can be used to help in everyday life. Includes kit list and safety instructions.
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Lesson planPhotolithography
Students use light to create their own printed circuit boards. Find the kit list, safety instructions and suggested timings in the download
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ResourceOn This Day - Apr 28 : Atom split
Their experiment divided the nucleus at the centre of the atom by using quantum mechanical tunneling, and transformed lithium (Li) into helium (He) and other elements. Related resources: Lithium - Element information Lithium podcast Helium - Element information Helium podcast
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ResourceOn This Day - May 01 : AC motor patented
Not only was this the first alternating current (AC) motor, but it also heralded a new system of power transmission, which is the basis for the mains power we use today. The Serbian-American physicist, engineer and inventor is recognised as one of the pioneers of electric power.
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ResourceOn This Day – Sep 02 : Friedrich Ostwald was born
He was one of the founders of classical physical chemistry. In particular, Ostwald was a pioneer of electrochemistry and chemical dynamics. He won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1909 for his work on catalysis, chemical equilibrium, and reaction velocities.
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ResourceOn This Day – Jul 11 : Samuel Goudsmit was born
He introduced the concept of electron spin along with George Eugene Uhlenbeck in 1925. This phenomenon explains many aspects of atomic behaviour that cannot be explained by classical physics.
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ResourceOn This Day - Mar 20 : Volta revealed the battery
He wrote to the president of the Royal Society detailing his invention, which was initially called the ‘electric pile’. The battery consisted of alternating copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) discs, connected by pieces of leather or card soaked in salt water.
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ResourceOn This Day - Mar 22 : Robert Millikan was born
Famous for using oil droplets to measure the charge of an electron for the first time, Millikan went on to experimentally investigate the photoelectric effect corroborating Einstein’s theories. Millikan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1923 for this work.
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ResourceOn This Day - Apr 23 : Max Planck was born
Max Planck was the founder of quantum theory. He came up with the equation E = hν, which related the frequency of light emitted by a body to its energy.
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ResourceOn This Day - May 24 : Daniel Fahrenheit was born
He invented the alcohol thermometer (1709) and mercury thermometer (1714). He also developed the Fahrenheit temperature scale by reference to three fixed points of temperature, where a mixture of ice, water and ammonium chloride was taken as 0 °F.
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ResourceOn This Day - Jun 25 : Walther Nernst was born
He was a pioneer in physical chemistry. Nernst is best known for his theories relating to the calculation of chemical affinity, which is the ability of chemicals to form compounds with one another. He won the 1920 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
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ResourceOn This Day – Sep 28 : Metre was defined
One metre was defined as the distance between two lines on a standard bar of an alloy of platinum (Pt) with 10% iridium (Ir), measured at the melting point of ice. The original international prototype of the metre is still kept at the BIPM, Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, in Sèvres, France.
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ResourceOn This Day - Jan 17 : Friedrich Kohlrausch died
His research focussed on the thermal, electrical and magnetic properties of electrolytes. He is recognised as one of the most important experimental physicists, with his early work contributing to the absolute system of electrical and magnetic measuring units.
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ResourceOn This Day - Feb 19 : Svante Arrhenius was born
He is one of the founders of physical chemistry and perhaps most famous for proposing the Arrhenius equation, which describes the rate of a chemical reaction.
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ResourceOn This Day - Jan 31 : Irving Langmuir was born
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1932 for his work on monolayers and surface absorption. He was the first non-academic chemist to be awarded the prize.
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FeatureThe chemistry of pottery
Pottery vessels have been made for around 18,000 years. But how does clay extracted from the earth become a colourful pot, and what's the chemistry behind the process?