Austrium
Austrium is the name proposed by Eduard Linnemann in 1886 for a new chemical element . As a chemist at the German University of Prague, Linnemann studied the mineral orthite (extracted in Arendal , Norway ) over the course of several years, believing that the spectral lines he determined at 4165 and 4030 Ångström were none of those known at the time Elements would have been attributable. However, these findings were only published shortly after his death by Ferdinand Lippich , who submitted the manuscript to the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Prague , where it was dealt with at the meeting on May 6, 1886 and then published in the journal monthly magazine for chemistry .
Subsequently, however, Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran pointed out that Linnemann's results can be reconciled with the element gallium described by Lecoq himself in 1875 . Finally, Richard Pribram , a student of Linnemann, took up the question at the University of Czernowitz and was able to confirm that Linnemann's austrium was actually not a new element, but rather - as Lecoq had already suspected - was nothing more than gallium. At the same time, Pribram believed that he had discovered still unidentified spectral lines of a new element, for which he again suggested the name Austrium in reverence to Linnemann. Ultimately, this hypothesis could not be confirmed in further studies either.
literature
- R. Werner Soukup: The scientific world of yesterday. Böhlau, Vienna 2004.
- Robert W. Rosner: Chemistry in Austria 1740-1914. Böhlau, Vienna 2004.
Individual evidence
- ^ Eduard Linnemann: Austrium, a new metallic element. Monthly journals for chemistry 1886; 7 (1): 121-123, doi : 10.1007 / BF01516564 .
- ↑ Richard Pribram: About the Austrium. Monthly books for chemistry 1900; 21 (2): 148-155, doi : 10.1007 / BF01525792 .