chemistry

Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen

Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen 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 Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen rather than just read about it. In short: Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen (16 February 1826 – 13 February 1909) was a Danish chemist noted in thermochemistry for the Thomsen–Berthelot principle. Life and work Thomsen was born in Copenhagen, where he spent his life.

Key takeaways

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Reference excerpt

Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen (16 February 1826 – 13 February 1909) was a Danish chemist noted in thermochemistry for the Thomsen–Berthelot principle.

Life and work Thomsen was born in Copenhagen, where he spent his life. From 1847 to 1856 he taught chemistry at the Polytechnic, where from 1883 to 1892 he was the director. From 1856 to 1866 he was on the staff of the military high school. In 1866 he was appointed professor of chemistry at the university, and retained that chair until his retirement from active work in 1891. A friend and colleague of Ludwig A. Colding, who was one of the early advocates of the principle of conservation of energy, Thomsen did much to found the field of thermochemistry. In particular, between 1869 and 1882, he carried out a great number of determinations of the heat evolved or absorbed in chemical reactions, such as the formation of salts, oxidation and reduction, and the combustion of organic compounds. His collected results were published from 1882 to 1886 in four volumes under the title Thermochemische Untersuchungen, and also a resume in English under the title "Thermochemistry" in 1908. In 1857 he established in Copenhagen a process for manufacturing soda from cryolite, obtained from the west coast of Greenland. Although his efforts at determining the structure of benzene were unsuccessful, the Thomsen graph K 3 , 3 {\displaystyle K_{3,3}} in mathematical graph theory is named after him, from an 1886 paper in which he proposed a benzene structure based on this graph. Thomsen was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1880, and a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1884. He was awarded the Royal Society's Davy Medal in 1883. Thomsen served on the Copenhagen City Council from 1861 to 1894, to which he lent his expertise in a number of areas during the city's development. Katherine Alice Burke translated his book on systematic research in thermochemistry into English. This translation appeared in print in 1905.

Family His brother, Carl August Thomsen (1834–1894), was lecturer on technical chemistry at the Copenhagen Polytechnic, and a second brother, Thomas Gottfried Thomsen (1841–1901), was assistant in the chemical laboratory at the university until 1884, when he abandoned science for theology, subsequently becoming minister at Norup and Randers.

See also Extended periodic table Periodic table Oganesson Thomsenolite Marcellin Berthelot

References

Further reading Thermochemistry by J. Thomsen (1908) Muir, M. M. Pattison (1909). "Prof. Julius Thomsen". Nature. 80 (2054): 46–47. Bibcode:1909Natur..80...46M. doi:10.1038/080046a0. Kragh, Helge (January 1982). "Julius Thomsen and 19th-century speculations on the complexity of atoms". Annals of Science. 39: 37–60. doi:10.1080/00033798200200111. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Thomsen, Hans Peter Jörgen Julius". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 871.

External links

Biographical information Statue and picture of Thomsen

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen 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 Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen 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 Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen 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 Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen

In research: Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen 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 Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen 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: Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1826 births, 18th-century Danish scientists, 1909 deaths, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen 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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Frequently asked questions

What is Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen in simple terms?

Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen (16 February 1826 – 13 February 1909) was a Danish chemist noted in thermochemistry for the Thomsen–Berthelot principle. Life and work Thomsen was born in Copenhagen, where he spent his life.

Why does Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen 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 Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen?

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 Hans Peter Jørgen Julius Thomsen.