chemistry

Ri Sung-gi

Ri Sung-gi 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 Ri Sung-gi rather than just read about it. In short: Ri Sung-gi, also often spelled Lee Sung-ki, Lee Seung-gi or Yi Sung-gi (October 1, 1905 – February 8, 1996), was a North Korean chemist. He is best remembered as one of the inventors of Vinalon.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Ri Sung-gi, also often spelled Lee Sung-ki, Lee Seung-gi or Yi Sung-gi (October 1, 1905 – February 8, 1996), was a North Korean chemist. He is best remembered as one of the inventors of Vinalon. He has also been accused of involvement in North Korea's chemical and nuclear weapons programs. Ri was born in Damyang, South Jeolla Province, Korean Empire in 1905. He graduated from the local pot'ong hakkyo and received his degree in chemistry from Kyoto University in 1931. He developed Vinalon in 1939 alongside Ichiro Sakurada and Hiroshi Kawakami. In 1946, after Korean independence from Japanese occupation, he participated in the development of Gyeongseong University, but strongly opposed the university's official conversion to Seoul National University under the American military government. Following the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, he defected to the North. Ri received the Lenin Prize in 1962, and was made head of the North Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute in June 1965. He became chief of the Hamhŭng branch of the Academy of Sciences in 1984.

Works Li, Sung Gi (1977). "Story About Vinalon". Envying No One and Nothing in the World. Pyongyang: Foreign Languages Publishing House. OCLC 891429350.

Notes

External links

Empas entry (in Korean) Naver entry (in Korean)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ri Sung-gi

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ri Sung-gi 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 Ri Sung-gi 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 Ri Sung-gi 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 Ri Sung-gi

In research: Ri Sung-gi 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 Ri Sung-gi 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: Ri Sung-gi is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1905 births, 1996 deaths, 20th-century North Korean scientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ri Sung-gi 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 Ri Sung-gi in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Ri Sung-gi in simple terms?

Ri Sung-gi, also often spelled Lee Sung-ki, Lee Seung-gi or Yi Sung-gi (October 1, 1905 – February 8, 1996), was a North Korean chemist. He is best remembered as one of the inventors of Vinalon.

Why does Ri Sung-gi 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 Ri Sung-gi?

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 Ri Sung-gi.