chemistry

Peter de la Mare (chemist)

Peter de la Mare (chemist) 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 de la Mare (chemist) rather than just read about it. In short: Peter Bernard David de la Mare (3 September 1920 – 13 December 1989) was a New Zealand physical organic chemist. Born in Hamilton in 1920, he was the son of Sophia Ruth de la Mare (née Child), a medical practitioner, and Frederick Archibald de la Mare, a lawyer.

Key takeaways

Peter de la Mare (chemist) 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 de la Mare (chemist) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Peter de la Mare (chemist) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Peter Bernard David de la Mare (3 September 1920 – 13 December 1989) was a New Zealand physical organic chemist. Born in Hamilton in 1920, he was the son of Sophia Ruth de la Mare (née Child), a medical practitioner, and Frederick Archibald de la Mare, a lawyer. He was educated at Hamilton High School, and then attended Victoria University College, from where he graduated in 1942 with an MSc in chemistry, winning the Shirtcliffe Fellowship and the Jacob Joseph Scholarship. His master's research was supervised by Philip Robertson. He worked at the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in the agricultural department at Wellington and Ruakura, before undertaking PhD studies at University College London between 1946 and 1948, supervised by Christopher Ingold. He was appointed as an assistant lecturer in the University College London department of chemistry in 1948, and was promoted to lecturer in 1949 and reader in 1957. In 1960 he moved to Bedford College, University of London, becoming professor and head of chemistry. He was appointed professor and head of chemistry at the University of Auckland in 1967, stepping down as head of department in 1980 and retiring in 1981. De la Mare was awarded a DSc by thesis from the University of London in 1955. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1970, and in 1985 he won the society's Hector Medal, then the highest award in New Zealand science. In 1983 he was awarded an honorary DSc by Victoria University of Wellington.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Peter de la Mare (chemist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Peter de la Mare (chemist) 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 de la Mare (chemist) 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 de la Mare (chemist) 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 de la Mare (chemist)

In research: Peter de la Mare (chemist) 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 de la Mare (chemist) 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 de la Mare (chemist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1920 births, 1989 deaths, 20th-century New Zealand chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Peter de la Mare (chemist) 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.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Peter de la Mare (chemist)” →

Affiliate

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

How to study Peter de la Mare (chemist) in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Peter de la Mare (chemist) in simple terms?

Why does Peter de la Mare (chemist) 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 de la Mare (chemist)?

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 de la Mare (chemist).