chemistry

Michael McKubre

Michael McKubre 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 Michael McKubre rather than just read about it. In short: Michael Charles Harold McKubre was an electrochemist involved with cold fusion energy research. McKubre was the director of the Energy Research Center at SRI International in 1998.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Michael Charles Harold McKubre was an electrochemist involved with cold fusion energy research. McKubre was the director of the Energy Research Center at SRI International in 1998. He is a native of New Zealand.

Education McKubre completed two degrees at Victoria University of Wellington, a Master's degree in 1972, titled A Study of the Frequency Domain Induced Polarisation Effects Displayed by Clay and by Cation Exchange Resin, Model Soil Systems, followed by a PhD in 1976 on membrane polarisation effects in simulated rock systems.

Career From 1989 to 2002, he researched cold fusion at SRI International. Unlike other researchers in the same field, he obtained mainstream funding during all his research: first from the Electric Power Research Institute, then from the Japanese government, and in 2002 he had funding from the U.S. government. In January 1992 a cold fusion cell exploded in an SRI lab. One of McKubre's collaborators was killed and three people including McKubre were wounded. McKubre still has pieces of glass embedded in his side. Subsequent experiments were done behind bulletproof glass. In 2004 he and other cold fusion researchers asked the United States Department of Energy (DOE) to give a new review to the field of cold fusion, and he co-authored a report with all the available experimental and theoretical evidence since the 1989 review. The 2004 review concluded that "while significant progress has been made in the sophistication of calorimeters since the review of this subject in 1989, the conclusions reached by the reviewers today are similar to those found in the 1989 review." As of 2010, he was still making experiments with palladium cells at SRI International, and collaborates with the ENEA laboratory, where the most reliable palladium is being produced. McKubre more recently took part as one of the 22 physicists of the Steorn "jury".

Selected publications Hagelstein, Peter; Michael, McKubre; Nagel, David; Chubb, Talbot; Hekman, Randall (2004). New Physical Effects in Metal Deuterides (PDF). Washington: US Department of Energy. Archived from the original on 2007-01-06.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) (manuscript) Paper listing the available experimental evidence of cold fusion.

References

External links Media related to Michael McKubre at Wikimedia Commons

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Michael McKubre

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Michael McKubre 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 Michael McKubre 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 Michael McKubre 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 Michael McKubre

In research: Michael McKubre 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 Michael McKubre 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: Michael McKubre is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Electrochemists, Living people, New Zealand scientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Michael McKubre 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 Michael McKubre in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Michael McKubre in simple terms?

Michael Charles Harold McKubre was an electrochemist involved with cold fusion energy research. McKubre was the director of the Energy Research Center at SRI International in 1998.

Why does Michael McKubre 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 Michael McKubre?

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 Michael McKubre.