| Richard Abegg | |
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Richard Wilhelm Heinrich Abegg (1869-1910)
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| Born | January 9, 1869 Danzig, Germany |
| Died | April 3, 1910 (aged 41) Tessin, Germany |
| Residence | Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Fields | Chemist |
| Institutions | University of Göttingen University of Stockholm Wrocław University of Technology |
| Alma mater | University of Kiel University of Tübingen University of Berlin |
| Doctoral advisor | August Wilhelm von Hofmann |
| Doctoral students | Clara Immerwahr |
| Known for | Abegg's rule |
Richard Wilhelm Heinrich Abegg (January 9, 1869 – April 3, 1910) was a German chemist[1] and pioneer of valence theory. He proposed that the difference of the maximum positive and negative valence of an element tends to be eight. This has come to be called Abegg's rule. He was a gas balloon enthusiast, which caused his death at the age of 41 when he crashed in his balloon in Schlesien.
Abegg received his PhD on July 19, 1891 under August Wilhelm von Hofmann at the University of Berlin. Abegg learned organic chemistry from Hofmann, but one year after finishing his PhD degree turned to physical chemistry while studying with Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald in Leipzig, Germany. Abegg later served as private assistant to Walther Nernst at the University of Göttingen and to Svante Arrhenius at the University of Stockholm.
He discovered the theory of freezing-point depression and anticipated Gilbert Newton Lewis' octet rule by pointing out that the lowest and highest oxidation states of elements often differ by eight. He researched many topics in physical chemistry, including freezing points, the dielectric constant of ice, osmotic pressures, oxidation potentials, and complex ions.[2]
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Richard Abegg was the son of Wilhelm Abegg and Margarete Friedenthal. He had a brother, Wilhelm Abegg, who went on to be the Prussian Secretary of State.[1] After attending Wilhelm High School in Berlin, Abegg studied organic chemistry at the University of Kiel and the University of Tübingen. He then attended the University of Berlin, from which he received his doctorate under August Wilhelm von Hofmann. In 1895, he married Line Simon, who became also a ballooning enthusiast.
Abegg occupied himself with photography and balloon trips. He was the founder and chairperson of the Silesian Club for Aeronautics in Breslau. Furthermore, he practiced an assessor's function in the presidency of the German Air Sailors' Association.
During school, Abegg fulfilled his duties in the military. In 1891, Abegg became an officer in the German Reserves. In 1900, he became an Oberleutnant in the Reserves in the 9th Regiment of Hussars. In this year, he made his first trip in a balloon, for military purposes. Balloon trips became a frequent pastime of both Abegg and his wife. He made many scientific observations in his subsequent trips, which were never published.[3]
In 1894, Abegg worked as an assistant to Walther Nernst, one of the founders of physical chemistry and, at the time, Professor of Physical Chemistry. Five years later, Abegg became a Privatdozent at the Wrocław University of Technology in Wroclaw, Poland. A year later he became a professor. Clara Immerwahr, the first wife of Fritz Haber, studied and graduated under him. In 1909 he became a full professor. Together with his colleague Guido Bodländer, he published on electro-affinity, then a new principle in inorganic chemistry.
Abegg is best known for his research recognizing the role that valence played in chemical interactions. He found that some elements were less likely to combine into molecules, and from this concluded that the more stable elements had what are now called full electron shells. He was able to explain the attraction of atoms through opposite electrical charges. He also made the distinction between normal valence and contravalence. He found that the sum of these two valences always comes to eight, a rule that is now known as Abegg's rule.[2]
Abegg was the editor of Zeitschrift fur Elektrochernie from 1901 until his death in 1910.[3]