Auer

Auer
Auer, Baron von Welsbach
(1858–1929) Austrian chemist
Auer was born in Vienna, the son of the director of the Imperial Printing Press. He was educated at the Vienna Polytechnic and at Heidelberg University, where he was a pupil of Robert Bunsen.
In 1885 he made a major contribution to knowledge of the lanthanoid (rare-earth) elements. In 1840, Carl Mosander had isolated a new ‘element’ called didymium. Auer showed (1885) that this contained, on fractionation, green and rose-red portions. He named them praseodymia (‘green twin’) and neodymia (‘new twin’).
Auer was also one of the first to find some use for the rare-earth elements. Gas had been in use as an illuminant since the beginning of the century and, although an improvement on the early oil lamps, it had many disadvantages of its own. It was expensive, hot, smoky, and smelly. Auer realized that it would be better to use the gas to heat a solid that would itself provide light, rather than use the luminosity of the flame. He used a mantle over the flame, impregnated with thorium oxide and a small amount of cerium. The Welsbach mantle, patented in 1885, delayed the end of gas lighting for a few years. Unfortunately for Auer, his invention was too late for, in 1879, Edison had managed to burn an electric bulb for 40 continuous hours.
Later, in 1898, Auer tried to improve the electric lamp by replacing its carbon filament by metallic osmium, which has a melting point of 2700°C. Once more he failed, for the future lay with tungsten, which has a higher melting point of 3410°C.
He was more successful with the so-called Auer metal – an alloy consisting mainly of cerium with other lanthanoid elements. It is also called Mischmetal (German: mixed metal) and is used for flints in cigarette lighters.

Scientists. . 2011.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Auer — steht für: Auer (Familienname), der Familienname Auer Auer ist der Name folgender Orte: Auer (Südtirol), Marktgemeinde im Südtiroler Unterland Auer (Moritzburg), Ortsteil der Gemeinde Moritzburg (Sachsen) Auer Wasserburg, Ruine des einstigen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Auer — Auer,   1) Alfons, katholischer Theologe, * Schönebürg (heute zu Schwendi, Kreis Biberach) 12. 2. 1915; seit 1955 Professor für theologische Ethik in Würzburg, seit 1966 in Tübingen; untersucht grundsätzliche Fragen der Moraltheologie und… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Auer — may refer to:* Auer (surname) * Auer, Italy * Auer rod, cytoplasmic inclusions …   Wikipedia

  • Auer — Auer, 1) Aloys, Ritter von Welsbach, Buchdrucker, geb. 11. Mai 1813 zu Wels in Oberösterreich, gest. 10. Juli 1869 in Wien, wurde 1837 in Linz Lehrer der italienischen Sprache und 1841 Direktor der k. k. Hof und Staatsdruckerei in Wien, die unter …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • auer — auer·bach s; op·pen·auer; …   English syllables

  • Auer — Auer, Alois, geb. zu Wels in Oberösterreich 1813, lernte daselbst als Buchdrucker, siedelte 1837 nach Linz über, wo er öffentlicher Lehrer der Italienischen Sprache wurde, machte 1839 eine Reise durch Deutschland, die Schweiz, Frankreich, England …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Auer — Auer, Adelheid von, Pseudonym der Romanschriftstellerin Charlotte von Cosel …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Auer [2] — Auer, Aloys, Ritter von Welsbach, geb. 11. Mai 1813 zu Wels, 1841 68. Direktor der Hof und Staatsdruckerei in Wien, gest. 10. Juli 1869, Erfinder des Naturselbstdrucks u.a. – Sein Sohn Karl A., Freiherr von Welsbach, Chemiker, geb. 1. Sept. 1858… …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Auer [3] — Auer, Ignaz, Sozialdemokrat, geb. 19. April 1846 zu Dommelstadt bei Passau, gelernter Sattler, lebt in Berlin, Mitglied des Deutschen Reichstags (seit 1877 fast immer) und des sozialdemokrat. Parteivorstandes …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Auer [4] — Auer, Leop. von, Violinvirtuos, geb. 8. Juni 1845 zu Veszprém in Ungarn, seit 1868 Konzertmeister und Prof. am Konservatorium in Petersburg …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”