chemistry

George L. Humphrey

George L. Humphrey is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand George L. Humphrey rather than just read about it. In short: George Louis Humphrey (October 5, 1921 – October 18, 1994) was an American chemist and academic. Background Humphrey was born in Belleville, West Virginia, and later died in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Key takeaways

George L. Humphrey belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect George L. Humphrey to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of George L. Humphrey from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

George Louis Humphrey (October 5, 1921 – October 18, 1994) was an American chemist and academic.

Background Humphrey was born in Belleville, West Virginia, and later died in Morgantown, West Virginia. Humphrey completed undergraduate studies at the California Institute of Technology alongside future Caltech professor Frederick D. Ordway; in 1946, Humphrey served as best man at Ordway's wedding. He then entered the chemistry Ph.D. program at Oregon State College, earning his doctorate in 1950. His dissertation, Heats of Combustion of Some Cyclic Hydrocarbons, examined the thermochemistry of strained-ring hydrocarbons. During Humphrey's graduate studies, he served as a research assistant in physical chemistry and as a graduate research fellow at Oregon State College.

Career Humphrey later served on the faculty of the chemistry department at West Virginia University from 1952 to 1975. By the early 1960s, he had become an associate professor of chemistry and was active in academic organizations, including serving as a chapter president of Phi Beta Kappa at the university. Humphrey also held administrative roles within the department. By 1964, he was acting chairman of the chemistry department and participated in regional scientific events, including those organized by the American Chemical Society. In the 1970s, Humphrey served as associate chairman of the WVU Department of Chemistry and remained active in undergraduate education, including recognition of student achievement in chemistry courses. Humphrey's tenure at West Virginia University included both teaching and administrative leadership roles. Humphrey's work was noted by other scientists in a variety of contexts; for example, in 1976, the American chemist William Earle Bucy cited Humphrey's influence, writing that he wished to "express sincere appreciation to George L. Humphrey," and explaining further that Humphrey was the person responsible for "initiating [Bucy's] interest in molecular spectroscopy" in the first place. In 1977, chemist and botanist Earl Lemley Core published an account of Humphrey's investigation into a crystalline substance that accumulated on his automobile, which was subsequently identified as aphid honeydew.

Publications Donohue, J.; Humphrey, G. L.; Schomaker, V. (1945). "The Structure of Spiropentane". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 67: 332. Bibcode:1945JAChS..67..332D. Humphrey, G. L.; Badger, R. M. (1947). "The Absorption Spectrum of Ozone in the Visible". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 15 (11): 794. Bibcode:1947JChPh..15..794H. doi:10.1063/1.1749304. Humphrey, G. L.; Spitzer, R. (1950). "Bond Hybridization in the Non-Tetrahedral Carbon Atom". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 18 (6): 902. Bibcode:1950JChPh..18..902H. doi:10.1063/1.1749304. Humphrey, George L. (1950). Heats of Combustion of Some Cyclic Hydrocarbons. Oregon State College. Humphrey, G. L. (1951). "The Heats of Formation of TiO, Ti2 O3, Ti3 O5 and TiO2 from Combustion Calorimetry". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 73 (4): 1587. Bibcode:1951JAChS..73.1587H. doi:10.1021/ja01142a031. Humphrey, George L. (1951). "The Heats of Combustion and Formation of Titanium Nitride (TiN) and Titanium Carbide (TiC)". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 73 (5): 2261–2263. doi:10.1021/ja01149a100. Humphrey, George L. (1953). "The Heats of Formation of Hafnium Oxide and Hafnium Nitride". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 75 (12): 2806–2807. doi:10.1021/ja01108a004. Humphrey, George L.; O'Brien, C. J. (1953). "The Heats of Formation of Stannic and Stannous Oxides from Combustion Calorimetry". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 75 (12): 2805–2806. doi:10.1021/ja01108a003. McDivitt, J. R.; Humphrey, G. L. (1974). "Spectroscopic Studies of the Boron Trihalide and Borane Complexes of 1,4-Diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane and Quinuclidine". Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular Spectroscopy. 30: 1021. Bibcode:1974AcSpA..30.1021M. doi:10.1016/0584-8539(74)80038-5. Handzo, C. S.; Humphrey, G. L. (1979). "Kinetic Studies and Mechanisms of Reactions for Cyclopropane-1,1-Dicarboxylic Acid and of Cyclobutane-1,1-Dicarboxylic Acid in Potassium Bromide". The Journal of Organic Chemistry. 44 (6): 2146. doi:10.1021/jo00194a022.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with George L. Humphrey

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what George L. Humphrey claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to George L. Humphrey before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about George L. Humphrey ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of George L. Humphrey

In research: George L. Humphrey appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses George L. Humphrey in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: George L. Humphrey is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1921 births, 1994 deaths, 20th-century American chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for George L. Humphrey outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study George L. Humphrey in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what George L. Humphrey means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain George L. Humphrey out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is George L. Humphrey in simple terms?

George Louis Humphrey (October 5, 1921 – October 18, 1994) was an American chemist and academic. Background Humphrey was born in Belleville, West Virginia, and later died in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Why does George L. Humphrey matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study George L. Humphrey?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on George L. Humphrey.