Irving Langmuir was an American chemist and physicist. In 1932, he became the first industrial chemist to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in surface chemistry. His main area of study was surface chemistry, but he was also known for his work in atomic structure, surface phenomena in a vacuum, atmospheric science, and chemical reactions, thermal effects, and electrical discharges in gases. Through his well-known article “The Arrangement of Electrons in Atoms and Molecules,” he is also thought to have made Gilbert N. Lewis’s cubical atom theory and Walther Kossel’s chemical bonding theory more well-known. As the son of curious, nature-loving parents, he was taught from a young age to be curious and pay attention. He did well in school because he was smart, and he got his Bachelor of Science in metallurgical engineering (Met.E.) from the Columbia University School of Mines. After getting his Ph.D., he went to work at the General Electric research lab, where he made many important contributions to the development of incandescent light bulbs. He also looked into thermionic emission, and his continued work in this area led to the creation of a fast and effective vacuum pump.
Early years and childhood
Irving Langmuir was born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 31, 1881. He was the third of Charles Langmuir and Sadie Comings’ four children. His father was in charge of insurance.
Both of his parents told their kids to be interested in their surroundings and to pay close attention to nature. Irving went to different schools and institutes in America and Paris when he was young.
When he was in school, he became interested in chemistry, physics, and math. In 1898, he finished high school at Chestnut Hill Academy.
Arthur, his older brother, was a research chemist and a big influence on Irving when he was young. Arthur supported his brother’s interest in science and helped him set up his first chemistry lab in the corner of his bedroom.
In 1903, Irving went to the Columbia University School of Mines and got a Bachelor of Science in metallurgical engineering (Met.E.). Then, he went to Germany to study under Nobel Prize winner Walther Nernst at the University of Gottingen.
His dissertation was about how gases break apart near a hot platinum wire. In 1906, he got his doctorate. During this time, Nernst and the mathematician Felix Klein had a big impact on him.
Irving Langmuir’s Career
Irving Langmuir started his career as a teacher at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. He did this job until 1909. Later that year, he started working at the Schenectady, New York, General Electric research laboratory, where he eventually became Associate Director.
During this time, one of the projects going on at the research lab was to improve the early tungsten-filament incandescent light bulbs. Over time, the glass coverings of these bulbs turned black, and the tungsten filaments burned out quickly.
Langmuir started to look into the problem and found that the blackening of the bulbs was caused by tungsten that had evaporated from the hot filament and stuck to the glass. He came up with a better way to make the tungsten filament, which led to a better incandescent bulb that did well in the market.
He also did a lot of research on gases, especially hydrogen, which led to the creation of an atomic hydrogen welding torch. He looked into thermionic emission, which is when electrons jump off of a hot surface. This led to the creation of a fast and effective vacuum pump.
In the 1910s, he wrote a number of important papers about how gas molecules stick to, condense on, and evaporate from solid surfaces, as well as how molecules are arranged in the top layers of liquids.
In 1917, he wrote a paper about the chemistry of oil films. In 1919, he wrote “The Arrangement of Electrons in Atoms and Molecules,” in which he built on Gilbert N. Lewis’s cubical atom theory and Walther Kossel’s chemical bonding theory to explain his “concentric theory of atomic structure.”
In 1924, he came up with the idea of an electron’s temperature and made what is now called a Langmuir probe, which is an electrostatic probe used in plasma physics to measure both temperature and density.
Together with Katharine B. Blodgett, he looked into thin films and how things stick to surfaces. The two talked about the idea of a monolayer and the physics of a surface with only one layer.
At the end of the 1930s, he started to study atmospheric science and weather. After noticing drifting piles of seaweed in the Sargasso Sea, he found a wind-driven surface current in the sea that is now called the Langmuir circulation.
After working for GE for a while, he retired in 1950 but kept working as a consultant until he died.
Irving’s Major Work
In 1915, at the General Electric research lab, Irving Langmuir made the first true vacuum triodes. The first vacuum tubes were very similar to incandescent light bulbs. High-vacuum tubes were made possible by the diffusion pump and improvements made by Langmuir.
Awards & Achievements
In 1928, he was given the Perkin Medal, which is thought to be the highest honor in the US chemical industry.
Irving Langmuir won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1932 “for his work on surface chemistry and the things he found out about it.”
For his work in chemistry, he was given the Franklin Medal in 1934, which is the most prestigious of all the awards given by the Franklin Institute.
Personal History and Legacies
In 1912, he married Marion Mersereau. Kenneth and Barbara were the children that the couple took in.
He loved being outside and spent a lot of time hiking, climbing mountains, skiing, swimming, and boating. He was always willing to try new things, so at age 49, he learned to fly a plane.
Before dying on August 16, 1957, he was sick for a short time from a heart attack. He was 76.
Estimated Net worth
Irving is one of the wealthiest and most well-known chemists. Based on what we found on Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider, Irving Langmuir is worth about $1.5 million.