chemistry

Peter Waage

Peter Waage 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 Peter Waage rather than just read about it. In short: Peter Waage (29 June 1833 – 13 January 1900) was a Norwegian chemist and professor of chemistry at the University of Kristiania. Along with his brother-in-law Cato Maximilian Guldberg, he co-discovered and developed the law of mass action between 1864 and 1879.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Peter Waage (29 June 1833 – 13 January 1900) was a Norwegian chemist and professor of chemistry at the University of Kristiania. Along with his brother-in-law Cato Maximilian Guldberg, he co-discovered and developed the law of mass action between 1864 and 1879.

Biography He grew up on the island of Hidra in Lister og Mandal county, Norway. He was the son of Peder Pedersen Waage (1796–1872) and Regine Lovise Wathne (1802–72). He attended the Bergen Cathedral School and studied chemistry and mineralogy at the University of Kristiania (now University of Oslo) under Adolph Strecker. In 1858, he received the Crown Prince's gold medal (Kronprinsens gullmedalje) for work on the development of a theory of oxygen-containing acid radicals. He became a cand.real. in 1859. He subsequently traveled to France and Germany, where he studied for two years including time spent with Robert Bunsen in Heidelberg. In 1861, Waage was made an associate professor and in 1866 he was appointed professor of chemistry at the University of Kristiania. He remained a professor at the University over 30 years. He was also chairman of the Norwegian Polytechnic Society from 1868 to 1869, and the first chairman of the Norwegian branch of the YMCA when it was established in 1880. In 1894 Waage was elected to Honorary membership of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society.

Personal life He was married twice. In 1862, he married Johanne Christiane Tandberg Riddervold (1838- 1869), daughter of Hans Riddervold (1795-1876) and Anne Marie Bull (1804-70). Following the death of his first wife, he was married in 1870 with Mathilde Sofie Guldberg (1845-1907), sister of Cato Guldberg.

References

Other sources Bjørn Pedersen (2007) Peter Waage kjemiprofessoren fra Hidra(University of Oslo School Laboratory - Chemistry) ISBN 978-82-91183-07-7

Publications Waage, P.; C. M. Guldberg (1864). "Studies Concerning Affinity". Forhandlinger: Videnskabs - Selskabet I Christinia: 35. Abrash, Henry I.; Gulberg, C. M. (1986). "Studies Concerning Affinity". Journal of Chemical Education. 63 (12): 1044–1047. Bibcode:1986JChEd..63.1044W. doi:10.1021/ed063p1044.- English translation of Waage and Guldberg's 1864 paper (above)

Related reading Peter Østrøm Guldberg and Waage on the Influence of Temperature on the Rates of Chemical Reactions (Centaurus. Volume 28, Issue 3. Pages 277–287. October 1985) Robin E. Ferner and Jeffrey K. Aronson Cato Guldberg and Peter Waage, the history of the Law of Mass Action, and its relevance to clinical pharmacology (Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2016 Jan; 81(1): 52–55)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Peter Waage

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Peter Waage 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 Peter Waage 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 Peter Waage 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 Peter Waage

In research: Peter Waage 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 Peter Waage 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: Peter Waage is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1833 births, 1900 deaths, 19th-century Norwegian educators, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Peter Waage 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 Peter Waage in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Peter Waage in simple terms?

Why does Peter Waage 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 Peter Waage?

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 Peter Waage.