chemistry

William Henry (chemist)

William Henry (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 William Henry (chemist) rather than just read about it. In short: William Henry (12 December 1774 – 2 September 1836) was an English chemist. He was the son of Thomas Henry and was born in Manchester England.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

William Henry (12 December 1774 – 2 September 1836) was an English chemist. He was the son of Thomas Henry and was born in Manchester England. He developed what is known today as Henry's Law.

Life William Henry was apprenticed to Thomas Percival and later worked with John Ferriar & John Huit at the Manchesters Infirmary. He began to study medicine at University of Edinburgh in 1795, taking his medical in 1807, but ill-health interrupted his practice as a physician, and he devoted his time mainly to chemical research, especially with regard to gases. One of his best-known papers (published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 1803) describes experiments on the quantity of gases absorbed by water at different temperatures and under different pressures. His results are known today as Henry's law. His other papers deal with gas-analysis, fire-damp, illuminating gas, the composition of hydrochloric acid and of ammonia, urinary and other morbid concretions, and the disinfecting powers of heat. His Elements of Experimental Chemistry (1799) enjoyed considerable vogue in its day, going through eleven editions in 30 years. He was one of the founders of the Mechanics' Institute, the original precursor of University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in February 1809, having been awarded their prestigious Copley Medal in 1808. and elected to the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society on 2.April 1796. He shot himself in his private chapel at Pendlebury, near Manchester, in 1836.

Notes

References

Further reading Elwood, Willis J. & Tuxford, A. Felicité (eds.) (1984) Some Manchester Doctors: a biographical collection to mark the 150th anniversary of the Manchester Medical Society, 1834-1984. Manchester: Manchester University Press Henry, William Charles (1837) A Biographical Account of the late Dr Henry. Manchester: F. Looney (Dr William Charles Henry, also known as Dr Charles Henry, was a son of William Henry; he donated the first collection of scientific books to the Owens College Library in 1851.)

External links

Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney, eds. (1891). "Henry, William (1774-1836)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 26. London: Smith, Elder & Co. Thornber, Craig. "Thomas Henry, FRS and his son William Henry, MD, FRS, GS".

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with William Henry (chemist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what William Henry (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 William Henry (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 William Henry (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 William Henry (chemist)

In research: William Henry (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 William Henry (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: William Henry (chemist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1774 births, 1836 deaths, 19th-century British chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for William Henry (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 William Henry (chemist) in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is William Henry (chemist) in simple terms?

William Henry (12 December 1774 – 2 September 1836) was an English chemist. He was the son of Thomas Henry and was born in Manchester England.

Why does William Henry (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 William Henry (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 William Henry (chemist).