Gustav Kirchhoff was a German physicist who, working with chemist Robert Bunsen, developed spectroscopy as a tool for chemical analysis. Their 1859 collaboration showed that each element produces its own distinctive pattern of spectral lines when heated, a discovery the two used to identify the new elements caesium and rubidium and that later gave astronomers a way to determine what distant stars are made of.
Facts
Birth YearSourced to the subject's own account Death DateSourced to the subject's own account Death YearSourced to the subject's own account FieldSourced to the subject's own account Notable WorkKirchhoff's circuit laws 2 Notable WorkKirchhoff's law of thermal radiation 2 Notable Work BirthplaceKönigsberg, Kingdom of Prussia 2 Field
Field (category)Sourced to the subject's own account Gustav Kirchhoff
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Associated With
Spectroscopy, Concepts Kirchhoff and Robert Bunsen founded spectroscopy in 1859 to 1860, establishing that each element produces a distinctive line spectrum, and used it to discover caesium and rubidium.
Founded
Joint founding with Robert Bunsen: their 1859-1861 spectral-analysis work identified the chemical composition of the sun and stars.
Source Astrophysics (Britannica)
Invented
Credited jointly with Robert Bunsen for the 1859 development of practical spectral analysis.
Source Kirchhoff and Bunsen on Spectroscopy (ChemTeam)Gustav Kirchhoff and Robert Bunsen
Works In
Source Kirchhoff and Bunsen on Spectroscopy (ChemTeam)Gustav Kirchhoff and Robert Bunsen
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Kirchhoff and Bunsen on Spectroscopy (ChemTeam)
Gustav Kirchhoff and Robert Bunsen, Annalen der Physik und der Chemie, 1860Annalen der Physik, 1860, via chemteam.info
A method of qualitative analysis can be based on these lines, whereby the field of chemical reactions is greatly widened.
- Works In: Physics
- Invented: Spectroscope
View the Source 2. Gustav Kirchhoff (Wikidata)
P27 (country of citizenship): Kingdom of Prussia
Q27306
P20 (place of death): Berlin, Germany
Q64
P19 (place of birth): Königsberg, Kingdom of Prussia
Q4120832
P800 (notable work): Kirchhoff's circuit laws
Q187672
P800 (notable work): Kirchhoff's law of thermal radiation
Q911035
P800 (notable work): Kirchhoff's theorem
Q2226691
View the SourceAstrophysics (Britannica)
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