Historical Figures Codexery

Gustav Kirchhoff

German physicist and mathematician known for Kirchhoff's circuit laws, spectroscopy, and black-body radiation.

Gustav Robert Kirchhoff was a German physicist and mathematician born on 12 March 1824 in Königsberg, Prussia.[1][2] He formulated two fundamental circuit laws in 1845 and coined the term "black body" in 1860.[1][3] He died on 17 October 1887.[1]

Quick Facts

Birth name
Gustav Robert Kirchhoff
Born
12 March 1824
Birthplace
Königsberg, East Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia
Died
17 October 1887
Place of death
Berlin, German Empire
Resting place
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin
Education
University of Königsberg (Dr. phil.)
Children
5

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Together with Bunsen, Kirchhoff improved the spectroscope and showed in 1859 that the Sun contains sodium.[4] A 1850 paper by Kirchhoff titled "Über das Gleichgewicht und die Bewegung einer elastischen Scheibe" fixed a boundary condition issue that had troubled plate theory since Germain's work.[5] Kirchhoff determined in 1857 that a signal in a wire with no resistance moves along it at light speed.[6] In 1861, caesium and rubidium were identified by Kirchhoff together with Bunsen.[4]

By solving the wave equation, Kirchhoff gave a rigorous basis for Huygens' principle and also corrected it.[7] Kirchhoff's initial circuit rule says that for any node, the total current flowing out equals the total current flowing in.[8] His second circuit rule says that around any closed loop, the algebraic total of voltage drops is zero.[8]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Gustav Kirchhoff" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Marshall, "Rediscovery of the Elements: Mineral Waters and Spectroscopy", The Hexagon, 2008, p. 42–48; Waygood, "An Introduction to Electrical Science", Routledge, 19 June 2013; Schmitz, "Physical Chemistry", Elsevier, 2018, p. 278 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Gustav Kirchhoff" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kondepudi, "Modern Thermodynamics: From Heat Engines to Dissipative Structures", John Wiley & Sons, 5 November 2014, p. 288 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Gustav Kirchhoff" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kirchhoff, "Ueber den Durchgang eines elektrischen Stromes durch eine Ebene, insbesondere durch eine kreisförmige", 1845 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Gustav Kirchhoff" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Weeks, "The discovery of the elements", Journal of Chemical Education, 1956 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Gustav Kirchhoff" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kirchhoff, G. (1850). "Über das Gleichgewicht und die Bewegung einer elastischen Scheibe." Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik, 40, 51–88. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Gustav Kirchhoff" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kirchhoff, "On the motion of electricity in wires", Philosophical Magazine, 1857, p. 393–412; Graneau, "Kirchhoff on the motion of electricity in conductors", Apeiron, 1994, p. 19–25 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Gustav Kirchhoff" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Baker, Bevan B.; and Copson, Edward T.; The Mathematical Theory of Huygens' Principle, Oxford University Press, 1939, pp. 36–38.; Miller, David A. B.; "Huygens's wave propagation principle corrected", Optics Letters 16, 1370–1372, 1991 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Gustav Kirchhoff" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Corso di Fisicia 2 author Paul A .Tipler (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Gustav Kirchhoff (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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