physics

Vsevolod Frederiks

Vsevolod Frederiks is a physics 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 Vsevolod Frederiks rather than just read about it. In short: Vsevolod Konstantinovich Frederiks (or Fréedericksz; Russian: Всеволод Константинович Фредерикс pronounced [ˈvʲsʲɛvəɫəd fʲrʲɪdʲɪˈrʲiks]; April 29, 1885, Warsaw – January 6, 1944, Gorkiy) was a Russian/Soviet physicist. His primary contribution was in the field of liquid crystals.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Vsevolod Konstantinovich Frederiks (or Fréedericksz; Russian: Всеволод Константинович Фредерикс pronounced [ˈvʲsʲɛvəɫəd fʲrʲɪdʲɪˈrʲiks]; April 29, 1885, Warsaw – January 6, 1944, Gorkiy) was a Russian/Soviet physicist. His primary contribution was in the field of liquid crystals. The Frederiks transition is named after him. After high school, Frederiks attended Geneva University and attended the lectures of Paul Langevin in Paris for one semester. After defending his thesis and obtaining his PhD, Frederiks decided to continue his studies at Göttingen University. He was there for more than eight years, and with the outbreak of World War I he became a civil prisoner. During that period, he became personal assistant to David Hilbert. In the summer of 1918, Frederiks returned to Russia, and worked at the Institute of Physics and Biophysics in Moscow. In 1919, he became a lecturer at the University of Petrograd. He was arrested by the NKVD in 1937. Although released before World War II, he died before reaching home.

Works Fréedericksz, V.; Repiewa, A. (1927). "Theoretisches und Experimentelles zur Frage nach der Natur der anisotropen Flüssigkeiten". Zeitschrift für Physik. 42 (7): 532–546. Bibcode:1927ZPhy...42..532F. doi:10.1007/BF01397711. Fréedericksz, V.; Zolina, V. (1933). "Forces causing the orientation of an anisotropic liquid". Trans. Faraday Soc. 29 (140): 919–930. doi:10.1039/TF9332900919.

References

Bibliography David Dunmur & Tim Sluckin (2011) Soap, Science, and Flat-screen TVs: a history of liquid crystals, pp 103–7, Oxford University Press ISBN 978-0-19-954940-5 . A.S. Sonin & V.Ya. Frenkel (1995) Vsevolod Konstantinovich Freédericksz, Moscow: Nauka Publishing House.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Vsevolod Frederiks

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Vsevolod Frederiks claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, 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 Vsevolod Frederiks 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 Vsevolod Frederiks 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 Vsevolod Frederiks

In research: Vsevolod Frederiks appears in physics 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 Vsevolod Frederiks 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: Vsevolod Frederiks is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1885 births, 1944 deaths, 20th-century Russian physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Vsevolod Frederiks 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 Vsevolod Frederiks in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Vsevolod Frederiks in simple terms?

Why does Vsevolod Frederiks matter?

Because it connects several physics 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 Vsevolod Frederiks?

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 Vsevolod Frederiks.