chemistry

Kurt Peters (chemist)

Kurt Peters (chemist) 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 Kurt Peters (chemist) rather than just read about it. In short: Kurt Gustav Karl Peters (17 August 1897 – 23 May 1978) was an Austrian chemist. His work focused on the area of fuel technology, physical chemistry and catalytic reactions as well as the separation of rare gases and hydrocarbons.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Kurt Gustav Karl Peters (17 August 1897 – 23 May 1978) was an Austrian chemist. His work focused on the area of fuel technology, physical chemistry and catalytic reactions as well as the separation of rare gases and hydrocarbons.

History After serving in the Austrian army during World War I, he studied chemistry at the Technical University of Vienna (Vienna TH, today Vienna University of Technology) between 1918 and 1921. In 1923 he earned his doctorate at the University of Berlin under Walther Nernst. In 1927, Peters and Friedrich Paneth published their results on the transformation of hydrogen to helium, now known as Cold fusion. They later retracted the results, saying they had measured background helium from the air. After working for a number of years as an assistant, in 1928 he was promoted to Head of Department at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Coal Research. In 1937 he moved into industry and worked in the department of experimental high-IG Farben under Matthias Pier in the field of catalyst development. After the Second World War, the American military government appointed him as trustee for a portion of the confiscated property of the Company IG Farben. In 1949 he returned to academia, and was appointed as professor at the Department of ordinary fuel at TH Vienna. From 1952 to 1954 he was Dean of the chemistry department and in the years 1955 and 1956, Rector of the TH Vienna.

References

Manfred Rasch: Peters, Kurt. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Band 20, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2001, S.246f

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kurt Peters (chemist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kurt Peters (chemist) 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 Kurt Peters (chemist) 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 Kurt Peters (chemist) 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 Kurt Peters (chemist)

In research: Kurt Peters (chemist) 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 Kurt Peters (chemist) 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: Kurt Peters (chemist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1897 births, 1978 deaths, 20th-century Austrian chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kurt Peters (chemist) 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 Kurt Peters (chemist) in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Kurt Peters (chemist) in simple terms?

Why does Kurt Peters (chemist) 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 Kurt Peters (chemist)?

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 Kurt Peters (chemist).