See also: Bunsen

Robert Wilhelm Bunsen , born the March 31st 1811 with Göttingen and dead the August 16th 1899 with Heidelberg, is a German chemist .

He is known for his work in Spectroscopie and, although he directly did not contribute to the improvement of this invention, to have given his name to the Bunsen burner.

Biography

He is youngest of four wire of Christian Bunsen (1770 - 1837), person in charge of the library of the Université of Göttingen and modern professor of Philologie. It is in Göttingen that it makes its studies and obtains its doctorate of chemistry.

Starting from 1830, it travels much between Paris, Vienna and of many German universities. It establishes contacts with the largest chemists of its time, such as Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, Justus von Liebig with Gießen and Alexander Mitscherlich with Bonn.

In 1834, it obtains a post of professor with Göttingen, where it studies arsenous salts metal, which gives to him the opportunity of its first discovered: hydrated iron oxide, which is a Antidote still used against the Empoisonnement with the Arsenic. In 1836, it succeeds Friedrich Wöhler as chemistry teacher with the Polytechnic school of Kassel, but leaves its item later two years for the Philips-Universität of Marbourg (between Frankfurt and Kassel). He studies in-depth the derivatives of the Cacodyl (CH3) 2As-As (CH3) 2, of the very flammable organometallic compounds at the same time, a terrible odor, and mortals. One of its experiments ends in a strong explosion and it loses an eye there. It even misses being poisoned with arsenic.

Bunsen is interested in the blast furnaces, of which he seeks to optimize the output by recycling of gases and valorization of by-products.

In 1841, it improves the pile of Grove by replacing the electrode in Platine by an electrode in Carbone. This pile which bears its name will be again improved by Georges Leclanché.

In 1852, after a short stay with Breslau, it succeeds Leopold Gmelin with the Chaire of chemistry of the Université of Heidelberg, which it occupies all its life. It concentrates on the improvement of the piles, which enables him to prepare by electrolysis several metals: Aluminum, Barium, Calcium, Chromium, Lithium, Magnesium, Manganese, Sodium.

He invents and develops a Calorimètre with ice with which he can determine the specific heat of these metals and thus them Atomic mass.

At the time of the eruption of the Mount Hekla, it accomplishes a voyage in Iceland, which is financed by the government Danish on which Iceland depended at the time. It draws from it especially an analysis from the operation of the Geyser S of which it manufactures a model in its laboratory in order to convince its contemporaries, persuaded for much that them Eau came from the center of the Ground.

Starting from 1860, it works on the Spectroscopie with Gustav Kirchhoff, which introduced the use of the prism to spread out the spectrum, and takes part in the development what we name today the Bunsen burner. They thus identify the Césium and the Rubidium. Their step of spectroscopy opens the way with discovered of five other elements: the Thallium, the Indium, the Gallium, the Scandium and the Germanium. Lastly, the Hélium is discovered in the spectrum of the Sun by Jules Jansen and Joseph Norman Lockyer in 1868.

It takes its retirement in 1889 and dies ten years later with Heidelberg.

Pupils

It had many pupils to which it gave a great freedom of research, among which Georg Ludwig Carius, Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe, Adolf Lieben, Henry Enfield Roscoe, Carl Ludwig, Viktor Meyer, which succeeded to him the pulpit of chemistry of Heidelberg, and Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer, which obtained the Nobel Prize of Chemistry in 1905.

Work

  • gasometric Methods ( Gasometrische Methoden ), 1857 Text in line

Distinctions

It accepted in particular the Médaille Copley, the Davy Médaille in 1877, and the Albert medal.

Source

  • '' Robert Wilhelm Bunsen '', eleventh edition of Encyclopedia Britannica

Simple: Robert Wilhelm Bunsen

Random links:List songs recorded by Frank Sinatra | Presidential election of the United States of America 1816 | The Hundred Year Association off New York | Zwiesel (top) | Route European 404