chemistry

Roberto Duarte Silva

Roberto Duarte Silva 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 Roberto Duarte Silva rather than just read about it. In short: Roberto Duarte da Silva (25 February 1837, Ribeira Grande, Cape Verde - 8 February 1889, Paris) was a Cape Verdean chemist. Career Duarte Silva began at the age of 14 as an apprentice in a pharmacy.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Roberto Duarte da Silva (25 February 1837, Ribeira Grande, Cape Verde - 8 February 1889, Paris) was a Cape Verdean chemist.

Career Duarte Silva began at the age of 14 as an apprentice in a pharmacy. Later he came to Lisbon to work in the Farmácia Azevedo, and studied at the School of Pharmacy (Escola de Farmácia) of the University of Lisbon, there, he also received his alma mater. For some years he lived in Macau and Hong Kong, where he founded his own pharmacy. He studied the compounds of amyl bases and propylamine at the laboratory of Charles Adolphe Wurtz, and achieved total synthesis of glycerine at a laboratory of Charles Friedel. In 1863 he went to Paris, and taught analytical chemistry at the École des Mines de Paris (now the Mines ParisTech), the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures (now the École Centrale Paris), and the École supérieure de physique et de Chimie industrial de la ville de Paris from 1882 until his death. Through these years he taught and was active in research, especially in the field of organic chemistry. Duarte Silva was presented with the Jecker Prize (Prix Jecker) by the French Academy of Sciences in 1885. In 1887 he became president of the Société Chimique de France. Among his students was chemist Charles Lepierre, who settled in 1888 at his suggestion in Portugal. A street is named in his honor in São Domingos de Benfica, in Lisbon.

Legacy Since 2007, he is featured on a Cape Verdean $500 escudos banknote. A plaque is commemorated at his former house in Ribeira Grande. The plaque reads in Portuguese, it is translated into English as "Here Roberto Duarte Silva was born, notable Cape Verdean chemist, 1837-1889".

References

Further reading Laurence Lestel (dir.), "Roberto Duarte Silva", in Itinéraires de chimistes: 1857-2007, 150 ans de chimie en France avec les présidents de la SFC, EDP Sciences, Les Ulis ; SFC, Paris, 2008, p. 495-499 ISBN 978-2-86883-915-2 Charles Lepierre: Centenário de Roberto Duarte Silva. Homenagem prestada ao mestre. In: Revista de chimica pura e applicada (Centenary of Roberto Duarte Silva), 3. vol., issue 12, 1937, no. 3/4, p. 97–107 (not evaluated) Carlos Perreira Roberto Duarte Silva: um notável da ciência, 82nd Edition (in Portuguese) Sabrina Requedaz Cap-Vert: Loin des yeŭ du monde

External links Online biography at the Portuguese Chemistry Society (in Portuguese) Archive from Joaquim Salal Roberto Duarte Silva, grande cientista cabo-verdiano (Roberto Duarte Silva, Greatest Cape Verdean Scientist) (in Portuguese)

Illustrations

Roberto Duarte Silva: Duarte Silva's portrait on the Cape Verdean escudo — Duarte Silva's portrait on the Cape Verdean escudo

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Roberto Duarte Silva

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Roberto Duarte Silva 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 Roberto Duarte Silva 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 Roberto Duarte Silva 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 Roberto Duarte Silva

In research: Roberto Duarte Silva 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 Roberto Duarte Silva 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: Roberto Duarte Silva is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1837 births, 1889 deaths, 19th-century French chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Roberto Duarte Silva 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 “Roberto Duarte Silva” →

Affiliate

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

How to study Roberto Duarte Silva in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Roberto Duarte Silva in simple terms?

Roberto Duarte da Silva (25 February 1837, Ribeira Grande, Cape Verde - 8 February 1889, Paris) was a Cape Verdean chemist. Career Duarte Silva began at the age of 14 as an apprentice in a pharmacy.

Why does Roberto Duarte Silva 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 Roberto Duarte Silva?

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 Roberto Duarte Silva.