HENRY MOSELEY: BIOGRAPHY AND CONTRIBUTIONS - CHEMISTRY - 2024

Henry Moseley was an English scientist who managed to establish a regularity between the wavelength of X-rays produced by chemical elements and the atomic number; This discovery was baptized as Moseley's Law. With this discovery, this researcher was able to rearrange the elements in the periodic table.

He used the notion of the atomic number (Z) as an organizing principle. This consists of the number of protons contained within the nucleus. The historical relevance of this law is that Moseley went beyond the creation of Dimitri Ivanovich Mendeleev: Moseley was able to justify quantitatively the concept of atomic number.

He was able to specify, complete and substantially restructure the periodic system proposed by the Russian chemist. In other words, Henry Moseley carried the principle contained in his predecessor's proposal to its logical culmination.

This discovery was also of significant importance because, with the enunciated law, Ernest Rutherford's atomic prototype was supported with more scientific arguments.

Biography

Henry Moseley came into the world on November 23, 1887. He was born on the south coast of England, specifically in Weymouth, Dorsetshire. His family group consisted of two parents and two sisters older than him.

He came from a family of scientists who made valuable contributions to the study of science in various disciplines. His father was Henry Nottidge Moseley, he was a zoologist and professor of Physiology and Anatomy.

Family

The father worked at the University of Oxford; in addition, he created a school of zoology. He was even part of a team of expedition members who made important discoveries in oceanography.

Henry Moseley's paternal grandfather was the first Professor of Mathematics and Physics at King's College London. It was also a world reference in naval architecture.

As for his maternal family, his grandfather John Gwyn Jeffreys was a renowned oceanographer and expert in conchology; This is the discipline that is dedicated to studying the shell of mollusks.

Henry graduated at age 13 from the prestigious Summer Fields School. Later she joined Eton College, at that time it was the most famous public school in the world. There she achieved a great specialization in quantitative analysis.

Studies and first jobs

In 1906 he began to study Natural Sciences at Trinity College, Oxford University; there she graduated in Mathematics and Physics. Before graduating, Moseley came into contact with Professor Ernest Rutherford of the University of Manchester.

Rutherford was a New Zealand physicist and chemist who won the 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Upon meeting him, Moseley made known his aspiration to work alongside him; This he achieved in 1910, when he was appointed professor in the Department of Physics.

Investigation

It was then that Moseley resigned to devote himself entirely to research, which was his most passionate activity. Rutherford was Moseley's boss, teacher, and guide in the laboratory, and there he came up with a detailed nuclear model of the atom.

In 1912, with a grant awarded by the British businessman John Harling, Moseley developed work around challenging and original experiments that led to the publication of a journal article, co-authored with a lab partner, on reflection X-rays.

Moseley Law

Moseley continued his research alone at the University of Oxford. It is there where he settled with his mother and where he managed to find the law designated with his name.

To begin to spread it, he began a series of conferences, discussions and publication of numerous articles.

Death

At the outbreak of World War I, Moseley enlisted to fight for Great Britain. There he met his death in the Battle of Gallipoli: a bullet in his head blinded his life on August 10, 1915. Moseley was 27 years old.

Contributions

The periodic table of chemical elements has so far been one of the most emblematic research and graphic constructions in science. This popular table has had contributions from various scientists around the world.

However, the formulation made by Henry Moseley was one of those that managed to resolve both the inconsistencies and the gaps that were present in it, although the place historically earned by the primordial proposal, made by Mendeleev, deserves special mention.

Moseley's work was to determine the wavelength of the X-rays emitted by the elements when receiving the bombardment of cathode rays.

Moseley used a crystallographic method. This consisted of measuring the wave produced after the deflection caused by X-rays when falling on a crystal.

Experiments

After experimenting with more than thirty metals, Moseley came to a conclusion regarding the X-rays appearing in his emission spectra. The X-rays in each of his experiments reached a wavelength that turned out to be inversely proportional to the atomic number of the chemical element.

This is how the English researcher came up with the atomic number, and reformulated and corrected one of the best-known icons in science: the periodic table.

Among the modifications that this instrument underwent, it is worth mentioning the incorporation of three new elements that had not been discovered: promethium, technetium, and rhenium.

Your last disposition

It is necessary to note the deep fervor and conviction that this chemist felt throughout his life for science. This quality is proven in the vehement dedication to research in the area of ​​chemistry that he always professed.

His love of science also manifested itself in his last will. This was collected in the will written in her own hand on a short piece of paper. There she arranged that her movable and immovable property bequeathed to the Royal Society of London.

The ultimate purpose of this provision is that heredity will be used in the experimental inquiry of disciplines such as physics, pathology, chemistry, and physiology. This gesture shows that Moseley's highest motivation was always linked to the construction of knowledge in the experimental field.

References

1. Coscollá, Jordi. Biographies. Henry Moseley. Recovered in: 100ciaquimica.net
2. (S / D) Atomic Number. Recovered from: Númerode.com
3. Tubau, Daniel. Henry Moseley and extreme realism. Recovered at: wordpress.danieltubau.com
4. Netto, Ricardo S. Moseley Biography, Henry Gwyn Jeffrey. Recovered in: fisicanet.com.ar
5. Roman, Pascual. Henry Moseley. X-rays, periodic table and war. Scientific popularization magazine of the Faculty of Sciences of Zaragoza. No.13, May 2014. Recovered from: researchgate.net
6. Ayuela, Carlos (2012). Henry Moseley and the periodic table. Recovered in: Encandopeces.blogspot.com