chemistry

Otto Redlich

Otto Redlich 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 Otto Redlich rather than just read about it. In short: Otto Redlich (November 4, 1896 – August 14, 1978) was an Austrian physical chemist who is best known for his development of equations of state like the Redlich-Kwong equation. Redlich also made numerous other contributions to science.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Otto Redlich (November 4, 1896 – August 14, 1978) was an Austrian physical chemist who is best known for his development of equations of state like the Redlich-Kwong equation. Redlich also made numerous other contributions to science. He won the Haitinger Prize of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in 1932.

Biography Redlich was born 1896 in Vienna, Austria. He went to school in the Döbling district of Vienna. After finishing school in 1915 he joined the Austrian Hungarian Army and served as an artillery officer, mainly at the Italian front, in World War I. He was wounded and became a prisoner of war in August 1918. He returned to Vienna after the war in 1919. He studied chemistry and received his doctorate in 1922 for work on the equilibrium of nitric acid, nitrous and nitric oxide. Redlich worked for one year in industry before joining Emil Abel at the University of Vienna. He became a lecturer in 1929 and a professor in 1937. During this time he developed the Teller-Redlich isotopic product rule. After the Anschluss in March 1938, Austria became a part of Nazi Germany, and with the implementation of the Nuremberg Laws all government employed Jews lost their jobs, including academics. Like many other scientists, Redlich tried to leave Nazi-governed Austria. With the help of the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars, Redlich was able to emigrate to the United States in December 1938. He gave lectures at several universities and met Gilbert N. Lewis and Linus Pauling. Harold Urey helped him to obtain a position in Washington State College. In 1945 he left the college to work in industry, at Shell Development Co. in Emeryville, California. He published his paper on the improvement of the ideal gas equation in 1949, today known as the Redlich–Kwong equation of state. In 1962 Redlich retired from Shell and received a position at University of California at Berkeley. He died in California in 1978.

Bibliography Redlich, Otto (1976). Thermodynamics: Fundamentals, Applications. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-444-41487-8. Reif-Acherman, Simón (2008). "Otto Redlich: chemist and gentleman from the 'old school'". Química Nova. 31 (7): 1901–1908. doi:10.1590/S0100-40422008000700053.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Otto Redlich

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Otto Redlich 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 Otto Redlich 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 Otto Redlich 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 Otto Redlich

In research: Otto Redlich 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 Otto Redlich 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: Otto Redlich is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1896 births, 1978 deaths, 20th-century American chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Otto Redlich 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.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Otto Redlich in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Otto Redlich in simple terms?

Why does Otto Redlich 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 Otto Redlich?

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 Otto Redlich.