physics

Hans Pettersson

Hans Pettersson is a physics 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 Pettersson rather than just read about it. In short: Prof Hans Pettersson FRSFor HFRSE RSAS (1888–1966) was a 20th-century Swedish physicist and oceanographer. Early life Hans Pettersson was born in Forshalla near Gothenburg on 26 August 1888, the son of the chemist and oceanographer Otto Pettersson (1848-1941).

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Prof Hans Pettersson FRSFor HFRSE RSAS (1888–1966) was a 20th-century Swedish physicist and oceanographer.

Early life Hans Pettersson was born in Forshalla near Gothenburg on 26 August 1888, the son of the chemist and oceanographer Otto Pettersson (1848-1941). He studied Sciences at Uppsala University, graduating in 1909. He then studied atomic physics as a postgraduate at the Institute for Radium Research, Vienna.

Career Pettersson's first publication from 1910 was on the issue of radium. In 1913 he joined the staff of the Swedish Hydrographic-Biological Commission. In 1914 he began lecturing in Oceanography at University of Gothenburg. He later brought this knowledge to the field of oceanography, and with the help of radium he could determine the age of sediment samples from the bottom of the sea. Pettersson became the first full professor of oceanography in Sweden and in 1938 founded the Institute of Oceanography in Gothenburg, thanks to funding from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. Pettersson was its head until 1956. He also was the head of the Bornö Hydrographic Field Station on Stora Bornö. In 1956, aged 68, he became Professor of Geophysics at the University of Hawaii. Pettersson also wrote many popular scientific texts which helped disseminate progress in oceanography to the general audience. In July 1947, the Albatross expedition started its around the world voyage with Pettersson as leader of the expedition. This expedition was planned by him, and was financed by private sponsors. He died in Gothenburg on 25 January 1966.

Publications Westward Ho with the Albatross (1953)

Awards and honours 1947 elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 1948 elected as a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. 1949 awarded the Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society. 1950 elected Foreign Member of the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters. 1956 elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society of London (ForMemRS) in 1956.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hans Pettersson

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hans Pettersson claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, 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 Pettersson 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 Pettersson 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 Pettersson

In research: Hans Pettersson appears in physics 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 Pettersson 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 Pettersson is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1888 births, 1966 deaths, Academic staff of the University of Gothenburg, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hans Pettersson 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 Hans Pettersson in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hans Pettersson 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 Hans Pettersson out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hans Pettersson in simple terms?

Prof Hans Pettersson FRSFor HFRSE RSAS (1888–1966) was a 20th-century Swedish physicist and oceanographer. Early life Hans Pettersson was born in Forshalla near Gothenburg on 26 August 1888, the son of the chemist and oceanographer Otto Pettersson (1848-1941).

Why does Hans Pettersson matter?

Because it connects several physics 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 Pettersson?

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 Pettersson.