chemistry

Nil Ratan Dhar

Nil Ratan Dhar 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 Nil Ratan Dhar rather than just read about it. In short: Nil Ratan Dhar FNA, FRSC (2 January 1892 – 5 December 1986) was an Indian professor of soil science and chemistry at the University of Allahabad, known for discovering thermal and photo-chemical fixation of atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. He was the brother of a freedom fighter Jiban Ratan Dhar.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Nil Ratan Dhar FNA, FRSC (2 January 1892 – 5 December 1986) was an Indian professor of soil science and chemistry at the University of Allahabad, known for discovering thermal and photo-chemical fixation of atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. He was the brother of a freedom fighter Jiban Ratan Dhar. He was known as the "father of Indian physical chemistry." Dhar was a founding member of many scientific organizations like The World Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, India and the Sheila Dhar Institute of Soil Science, Allahabad.

Early life and education He was born on 2 January 1892 in Jolkhada, British India (now Jessore, Bangladesh) to Prassana Kumar Dhar, a lawyer, his grandfather, Prem Chand Dhar, was a Zamindar of the place. and his mother Nirode Mohini Dhar, the daughter of a local zamindar. He obtained his DSc from University of London in 1917. In 1919, he earned a doctorate of science in France. He was awarded honorary DCs from Banaras Hindu University, University of Allahabad, Jadavpur University, Gorakhpur University and Visva-Bharati University.

Awards and memberships Dhar was elected a fellow of the Chemical Society of London (FCS) and the Institute of Chemistry (later the Royal Institute of Chemistry) in 1919. In 1935, he was appointed a Foundation Fellow of the National Institute of Sciences of India (FNI, now the Indian National Science Academy. Dhar was a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences, France and a foreign member of the French Academy of Agriculture. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize four times. He was also a founding member of the Indian Chemical Society and the National Academy of Sciences, India, and the president of both organizations from 1933 to 1934 and 1935–1937 respectively. Though not a founding member, he also served as the president of the Indian Society of Soil Sciences. Dhar was also a member of the Society of Biological Chemists, India. In 1961, he became the General President of the Indian Science Congress Association.

Notes

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nil Ratan Dhar

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nil Ratan Dhar 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 Nil Ratan Dhar 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 Nil Ratan Dhar 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 Nil Ratan Dhar

In research: Nil Ratan Dhar 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 Nil Ratan Dhar 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: Nil Ratan Dhar is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1892 births, 1986 deaths, 20th-century Indian chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nil Ratan Dhar 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 Nil Ratan Dhar in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Nil Ratan Dhar in simple terms?

Why does Nil Ratan Dhar 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 Nil Ratan Dhar?

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 Nil Ratan Dhar.