Irving Langmuir

Langmuir, Irving 

Born Jan. 31, 1881, in Brooklyn, N. Y.; died Aug. 16, 1957, in Falmouth, Mass. American physicist and physicochemist. Graduated from the Columbia School of Mines (1903) and the University of Göttingen (1906).

Langmuir’s research (beginning in 1909) on electric discharges in gases and his study of thermionic emission were used in designing gas-filled incandescent lamps and electron tubes in radio engineering. In 1913, Langmuir proposed a formula for emission flux density. In 1924 he investigated the thermal ionization of gases and vapors by metal surfaces in contact with them. In 1911 he obtained atomic hydrogen and developed a process for welding metals in its flame. In 1916 he designed the first mercury condensation vacuum pump. By studying the adsorption of gases on solid surfaces (1909–16), Langmuir established the existence of the adsorption limit and proposed an equation for the adsorption isotherm (the Langmuir adsorption isotherm). He studied the structure of monomolecular adsorption layers and worked on theoretical problems of colloidal systems. In 1932 he won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for discoveries in surface phenomena.

WORKS

Gas-filled Tungsten Filament Lamps and High-vacuum Electron Devices. New York, 1913.