chemistry

Philip Coppens (chemist)

Philip Coppens (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 Philip Coppens (chemist) rather than just read about it. In short: Philip Coppens (October 24, 1930 – June 21, 2017) was a Dutch-born American chemist and crystallographer known for his work on charge density analysis using X-rays crystallography and the pioneering work in the field of photocrystallography. Education and career The Amersfoort-born Coppens received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Amsterdam in 1954 and 1960, where he was supervised by Carolina MacGi…

Key takeaways

Philip Coppens (chemist) belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
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Reproduce the core statement of Philip Coppens (chemist) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Philip Coppens (October 24, 1930 – June 21, 2017) was a Dutch-born American chemist and crystallographer known for his work on charge density analysis using X-rays crystallography and the pioneering work in the field of photocrystallography.

Education and career The Amersfoort-born Coppens received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Amsterdam in 1954 and 1960, where he was supervised by Carolina MacGillavry. In 1968, following appointments at the Weizmann Institute and Brookhaven National Laboratory, he was appointed in the chemistry department at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He was a SUNY Distinguished Professor and holder of the Henry M. Woodburn Chair of Chemistry. Among the many 3-dimensional structures Coppens characterized is the nitroprusside ion.

Honours and awards Coppens was a corresponding member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1979 and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science from 1993. Additionally, he was awarded the Gregori Aminoff Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1996, the Ewald Prize of the International Union of Crystallography in 2005, and Kołos Medal in 2013.

Bibliography Coppens, Philip, ed. (1972). Proceedings of the Symposium on "Experimental and Theoretical Studies of Electron Densities" at University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 4-5, 1972. Pittsburgh, Pa.: Polycrystal Book Service. OCLC 256278163. Coppens, Philip; Hall, Michael B, eds. (1982). Electron distributions and the chemical bond. New York: Plenum Press. ISBN 978-0-306-41000-0. OCLC 865271066. Coppens, Philip; Cox, David; Vlieg, Elias; Robinson, Ian K (1992). Synchrotron radiation crystallography. London; San Diego; New York: Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-188080-4. OCLC 468470415. Kao, Yi-Han; Kwok, Hoi-Sing; Coppens, Philip, eds. (1991). Superconductivity and its applications: Buffalo, NY 1990. New York: American Institute of physics. ISBN 978-0-88318-835-4. OCLC 468309233. Coppens, Philip (1997). X-ray charge densities and chemical bonding. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-19-509823-5. OCLC 845312646.

References

Further reading Hsu, Charlotte (October 26, 2016). "Coppens celebrated for his 48 years at UB". UBNow. University at Buffalo. Report on the Symposium honoring Coppens on the occasion of his retirement. Coppens, Philip (2015). "The Old and the New: My Participation in the Development of Chemical Crystallography during 50+ years". Physica Scripta. 90 (1): 058001. Bibcode:2015PhyS...90a8001S. doi:10.1088/0031-8949/90/1/018001.

External links Official website Biographical sketch, Yale University

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Philip Coppens (chemist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Philip Coppens (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 Philip Coppens (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 Philip Coppens (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 Philip Coppens (chemist)

In research: Philip Coppens (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 Philip Coppens (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: Philip Coppens (chemist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1930 births, 2017 deaths, 20th-century Dutch chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Philip Coppens (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.

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How to study Philip Coppens (chemist) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Philip Coppens (chemist) means in your own words.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Philip Coppens (chemist) in simple terms?

Why does Philip Coppens (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 Philip Coppens (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 Philip Coppens (chemist).