Robert Kipchhoff Research Paper
When Gustav Robert Kirchhoff’s banker questioned the financial unreliability that would result from Mr. Kirchhoff investing his hard-earned gold in Fraunhofer lines, Kirchhoff handed him the medal he had earned from his research and replied “Look here, I have succeeded at last in fetching some gold from the sun.” Despite how phenomenally sassy this quote makes him appear, Kirchhoff lived a quiet life (aside from his incredible scientific contributions, of course). Gustav Robert Kirchhoff was born on March 12, 1824 to Friedrich and Johanna Henriette Kirchoff. Born in Königsberg, Prussia (which is now known as Kaliningrad, Russia), Kirchhoff was raised in a well-respected family that was a part of the thriving intellectual community. His parent’s
desires to mold him into a “servant of Prussia,” combined with his hunger to learn, assisted Kirchhoff in becoming one of the most notable scientists in the field of electricity. Gustav attended the Albertus University of Königsberg, where he was taught by Franz Ernst Neumann, a distinguished scientist, mathematician, and mineralogist. Neumann’s contributions to the studies of electricity inspired Kirchhoff, and while he studied under Neumann, Gustav made his first couple of many scientific discoveries. Kirchhoff's circuit laws are two rules that deal with the conservation of charge and energy in electrical circuits. Additionally,, extending the work of Georg Ohm, Gustav wrote Kirchhoff’s Laws. These enabled calculations of the currents, voltages, and resistances of electrical networks with multiple loops. Kirchhoff also realized that current flows through a conductor at the speed of light, which is incredibly fascinating!
After graduating in 1847, Kirchhoff married Clara Richelot, the daughter of his mathematics professor, and packed his bags to move across Europe to Germany. He taught as an unsalaried lecturer at the University of Berlin until he acquired a teaching position at the University of Breslau, where he met his lifelong friend Robert Wilhelm Bunsen. Bunsen convinced Kirchhoff to transfer to the University of Heidelberg in 1854, where he became the professor of physics. He spent many years of experimenting with Bunsen, and many remarkable discoveries (including the creation of the process of spectroscopy). One of his most notable eruditions to the field had to be his work on Frauenhofer lines, mainly Kirchhoff’s Law of Thermal Radiation. In fact, Kirchhoff earned the Mumford Medal for his work on spectral analysis. Another fantastic contribution to the world of science by Kirchhoff is the discovery of the elements caesium and rubidium in 1860 and 1861 with the help of Bunsen. Kirchhoff certainly had a life full of personal endowments to scientific advancements, and in ‘62 he introduced the astronomical concept of the “black body.”
Unfortunately, Kirchhoff’s wife died in 1869. She left Gustav and her three sons and two daughters behind. However, Mr. Kirchhoff was able to find happiness again, and he remarried to Luise Brommel in 1872. Kirchhoff was actually remarkably good at being optimistic and cheerful! Despite being in a wheelchair due to a physical disability that resulted from an accident, colleagues described Kirchhoff as being “Not easily drawn out but of a cheerful and obliging disposition.” Eventually, his disability rendered him unable to engage in scientific experiments, so he switched to mathematics and became chair of mathematical physics at Heidelberg. He died in 1887, and rests in St. Matthaus-Kirchoff Cemetery in Berlin.
desires to mold him into a “servant of Prussia,” combined with his hunger to learn, assisted Kirchhoff in becoming one of the most notable scientists in the field of electricity. Gustav attended the Albertus University of Königsberg, where he was taught by Franz Ernst Neumann, a distinguished scientist, mathematician, and mineralogist. Neumann’s contributions to the studies of electricity inspired Kirchhoff, and while he studied under Neumann, Gustav made his first couple of many scientific discoveries. Kirchhoff's circuit laws are two rules that deal with the conservation of charge and energy in electrical circuits. Additionally,, extending the work of Georg Ohm, Gustav wrote Kirchhoff’s Laws. These enabled calculations of the currents, voltages, and resistances of electrical networks with multiple loops. Kirchhoff also realized that current flows through a conductor at the speed of light, which is incredibly fascinating!
After graduating in 1847, Kirchhoff married Clara Richelot, the daughter of his mathematics professor, and packed his bags to move across Europe to Germany. He taught as an unsalaried lecturer at the University of Berlin until he acquired a teaching position at the University of Breslau, where he met his lifelong friend Robert Wilhelm Bunsen. Bunsen convinced Kirchhoff to transfer to the University of Heidelberg in 1854, where he became the professor of physics. He spent many years of experimenting with Bunsen, and many remarkable discoveries (including the creation of the process of spectroscopy). One of his most notable eruditions to the field had to be his work on Frauenhofer lines, mainly Kirchhoff’s Law of Thermal Radiation. In fact, Kirchhoff earned the Mumford Medal for his work on spectral analysis. Another fantastic contribution to the world of science by Kirchhoff is the discovery of the elements caesium and rubidium in 1860 and 1861 with the help of Bunsen. Kirchhoff certainly had a life full of personal endowments to scientific advancements, and in ‘62 he introduced the astronomical concept of the “black body.”
Unfortunately, Kirchhoff’s wife died in 1869. She left Gustav and her three sons and two daughters behind. However, Mr. Kirchhoff was able to find happiness again, and he remarried to Luise Brommel in 1872. Kirchhoff was actually remarkably good at being optimistic and cheerful! Despite being in a wheelchair due to a physical disability that resulted from an accident, colleagues described Kirchhoff as being “Not easily drawn out but of a cheerful and obliging disposition.” Eventually, his disability rendered him unable to engage in scientific experiments, so he switched to mathematics and became chair of mathematical physics at Heidelberg. He died in 1887, and rests in St. Matthaus-Kirchoff Cemetery in Berlin.