Today's KNOWLEDGE Share: Wilhelm Ostwald-Nobel prize 1909

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

Wilhelm Ostwald-Nobel prize 1909

Electrochemistry and Chemical Dynamics:

It is assumed that Wilhelm Ostwald started his experimental work in 1875 with investigations of the law of mass action of water in relation to the problems of chemical affinity, with emphasis on electrochemistry and chemical dynamics. From 1894 Wilhelm Ostwald studied catalytic processes. He worked on inorganic, organic and biochemical questions and defined the majority of life processes as catalytic processes. The scientist published an initial determination of the term catalysis in the same year.

The Ostwald Process

In 1902, Wilhelm Ostwald filed the patent for the Ostwald process, used in the manufacture of nitric acid. Often, the year 1908 is given for the invention of the Ostwald process, which may have been the interval between filing the patent and the time it was granted. With the help of the Ostwald process, a more economical and large-scale production of fertilizers and explosives was possible. Also, Ostwald did significant work on dilution theory leading to his discovery of the law of dilution which is named after him. Ostwald’s rule states that in general it is not the most stable but the least stable polymorph that crystallises first. The scientist suggested that the solid first formed on crystallisation of a solution or a melt would be the least stable polymorph. This can be explained on the basis of irreversible thermodynamics, structural relationships, or a combined consideration of statistical thermodynamics and structural variation with temperature.

Source:scihi.org

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