physics

Merle Randall

Merle Randall 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 Merle Randall rather than just read about it. In short: Merle Randall (January 29, 1888 – March 17, 1950) was an American physical chemist famous for his work with Gilbert N. Lewis, over a period of 25 years, in measuring reaction heat of chemical compounds and determining their corresponding free energy.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Merle Randall (January 29, 1888 – March 17, 1950) was an American physical chemist famous for his work with Gilbert N. Lewis, over a period of 25 years, in measuring reaction heat of chemical compounds and determining their corresponding free energy. Together, their 1923 textbook "Thermodynamics and the Free Energy of Chemical Substances" became a classic work in the field of chemical thermodynamics. In 1932, Merle Randall authored two scientific papers with Mikkel Frandsen: "The Standard Electrode Potential of Iron and the Activity Coefficient of Ferrous Chloride," and "Determination of the Free Energy of Ferrous Hydroxide from Measurements of Electromotive Force."

Education Randall completed his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1912 with a dissertation on "Studies in Free Energy".

Related Based on work by J. Willard Gibbs, it was known that chemical reactions proceeded to an equilibrium determined by the free energy of the substances taking part. Using this theory, Gilbert Lewis spent 25 years determining free energies of various substances. In 1923, he and Randall published the results of this study and formalizing chemical thermodynamics. According to the Belgian thermodynamicist Ilya Prigogine, their influential 1923 textbook led to the replacement of the term "affinity" by the term "free energy" in much of the English-speaking world.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Merle Randall

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Merle Randall 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 Merle Randall 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 Merle Randall 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 Merle Randall

In research: Merle Randall 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 Merle Randall 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: Merle Randall is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1888 births, 1950 deaths, 20th-century American chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Merle Randall 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 Merle Randall in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Merle Randall in simple terms?

Why does Merle Randall 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 Merle Randall?

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 Merle Randall.