chemistry

P. G. Owston

P. G. Owston 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 P. G. Owston rather than just read about it. In short: Philip George Owston (January 1921 – September 2001) was a British chemist and crystallographer for whom the Owston Islands (66°22′59″S 66°6′0″W) in Antarctica are named. Owston was born in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Yorkshire, England during January 1921 as the son of Edward Owston and Margaret Smith.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Philip George Owston (January 1921 – September 2001) was a British chemist and crystallographer for whom the Owston Islands (66°22′59″S 66°6′0″W) in Antarctica are named. Owston was born in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Yorkshire, England during January 1921 as the son of Edward Owston and Margaret Smith. He died in Watford, Hertfordshire, England in September 2001.

Owston's crystallography work included the determination of the structure of Zeise's salt, the anion of which is shown at right. Zeise's salt, K[PtCl3(η2-C2H4)]·H2O, was reported in 1831 and was one of the first organometallic compounds ever discovered. However, the nature of the platinum to ethylene bond in the compound was not understood until the development of the Dewar–Chatt–Duncanson model in the 1950s. The space-filling model from the Owston crystal structure clearly shows that it is an organometallic species as there is direct bonding between the platinum metal centre (in blue) and the two carbon atoms of the ethylene ligand (in black). In 1964, Owston wrote an article in New Scientist on the use of electron spin resonance spectroscopy in chemistry.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with P. G. Owston

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what P. G. Owston 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 P. G. Owston 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 P. G. Owston 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 P. G. Owston

In research: P. G. Owston 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 P. G. Owston 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: P. G. Owston is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1921 births, 2001 deaths, British chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for P. G. Owston 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 P. G. Owston in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is P. G. Owston in simple terms?

Why does P. G. Owston 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 P. G. Owston?

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 P. G. Owston.