physics

Hugo Fricke

Hugo Fricke 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 Hugo Fricke rather than just read about it. In short: Hugo Fricke (August 15, 1892 – April 5, 1972) was a Danish-American physicist who studied the chemical (radiolysis) and biological (radiation biology) effects of X-ray and electron beams and who also invented the Fricke dosimeter named after him. He also made important contributions to the theory of impedance measurements.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Hugo Fricke (August 15, 1892 – April 5, 1972) was a Danish-American physicist who studied the chemical (radiolysis) and biological (radiation biology) effects of X-ray and electron beams and who also invented the Fricke dosimeter named after him. He also made important contributions to the theory of impedance measurements.

Early life, education and career Hugo Fricke was born on August 15, 1892, in Aarhus, Denmark, to Hedevig (née Kämpfner) and Gunnar Fricke, the oldest of four siblings. Fricke relocated to Copenhagen in 1910, where he studied at the University of Copenhagen from 1910 to 1916, where he also worked as an assistant to Niels Bohr. In 1918, he moved to Lund University where he worked with Manne Siegbahn on X-ray spectroscopy. In 1919 he emigrated to the US, working at Columbia University and at Harvard University with Theodore Lyman until 1921. He moved to Cleveland Clinic by invitation of George Crile to head a biophysics laboratory between 1921 and 1928. Afterwards, Fricke was hired by Charles Davenport to work at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor from 1928 to 1955. He worked at Argonne National Laboratory from 1955 and at the Danish Atomic Energy Laboratory, now Risø DTU, from 1966 onwards. In 1949 he married Dorothy Newman. During his stay at Cleveland Clinic, Fricke and colleagues discovered the radiation response of ferrous sulphate that eventually resulted in the widely used dosimeter named after him. His research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory laid the foundation for the understanding of the radiation chemistry of water.

Honors and awards In 1972 he was awarded the Weiss Medal of the Association for Radiation Research. He was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1928.

See also Gel dosimetry Joseph Joshua Weiss Milton Burton

References

External links "Hugo Fricke". Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Retrieved 2022-05-07.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hugo Fricke

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hugo Fricke 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 Hugo Fricke 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 Hugo Fricke 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 Hugo Fricke

In research: Hugo Fricke 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 Hugo Fricke 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: Hugo Fricke is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1892 births, 1972 deaths, 20th-century American physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hugo Fricke 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 Hugo Fricke in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Hugo Fricke in simple terms?

Why does Hugo Fricke 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 Hugo Fricke?

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 Hugo Fricke.