Gustav Robert Kirchhoff

A Brief Digest of His Life and Work

by Mike Rasmussen

Vital Statistics

Born: 12 March 1824, Knigsberg, Prussia Christened: 11 April 1824 Father: Friedrich Kirchhoff (lawyer) Mother: Johanna Henriette Wittke Married: 1847, to Clara Richelot (his math professors daughter good reason to study math!) Died: 17 October 1887, Berlin Temple work: Done several times, 1929-2001. (Often just sealed to Mr. and Mrs. Kirchhoff good reason to study physics!)

Scientific contributions in brief

Kirchhoffs Law (Thermodynamics) Kirchhoffs Circuit Laws Spectroscopy (with Bunsen) Fresnel-Kirchhoff diffraction formula.

Kirchhoffs Law (Thermodynamics)

At thermal equilibrium, light emitted equals light absorbed. (Otherwise it wouldnt be at equilibrium.) So, black bodies are great emitters. And Space Blankets are good at not emitting.

Kirchhoffs Circuit Laws

The Sum of voltage rises and drops around a loop equals zero. (Energy is conserved.) Currents entering a junction are equal to currents leaving a junction. (Charge is conserved, similar to thermodynamic law. Remember, a lot of people thought charge was like heat, and might accumulate at a junction.) So, we can do circuit analysis. Obvious, but useful maybe we can all get laws named after us someday!

Kirchhoff and Bunsen

Spectroscopy

Two old telescopes, a prism, and a cigar box

A Great Spectroscopy Experiment

Burned highly purified sodium, observed two strong yellow lines Lit a Drummond light, which is a stick of lime heated by a flame to white hot it radiates nearly as a black body, with no dark lines Lit a sodium flame in between the limelight and the spectroscope, and observed two dark lines the sodium absorbed more energy than it emitted

Spectroscopy results

Identified Fraunhofers yellow lines in several lamp spectra as sodium emission Identified Fraunhofers dark lines in the solar spectrum as absorption Identified the chemical content of the sun Identified Cesium and Rubidium

Fresnel-Kirchhoff diffraction formula.

Fresnel derived a formula for diffraction by applying Newtons calculus to Huygens wavelets. In 1887, Kirchhoff used Maxwells Equations to justify Fresnels formula. Hence, it was named after both Fresnel and Kirchhoff. Apparently, it killed him, as he died that year.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Kirchhoff www.familysearch.org http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/webdocs/ChemHistory/Kirchhoff-Bunsen-1860.html http://www.neatherd.org/astronomy/Fingerpri nts%20of%20light.htm http://optics.byu.edu/Textbook.htm