Question

Who is the father of physical chemistry?

Answer 1

Hint: He is highly regarded as one of the pioneers of chemistry in the early twenty century who is responsible for establishing physical chemistry as an acknowledged branch of chemistry. He along with the other scientist carried out some of the most significant discoveries.

Complete answer:
Wilhelm Ostwald is known as the father of physical chemistry. Ostwald began his career as an independent unpaid investigator at University of Dorpat. He worked in the laboratory of Carl Schmidt, along with his contemporary Johann Lemberg. During his research work he invested in mass action, electrochemistry and chemical dynamics. He also invented the process for the inexpensive \[nitric{\text{ }}acid\] by oxidation of \[ammonia\] . He researched chemical reaction rates and velocities as well as the studies of acids and bases. He articulated the idea that a catalyst is a substance that accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction without being a part of either the reactants or the products.
Wilhelm Ostwald studied the crystallization behavior of solids, especially those solids that are capable of crystallizing in different forms, in the phenomenon known as polymorphism. He is credited with the introduction of word mole into the lexicon of chemistry. The concept was linked to the ideal gas according to him.
Ostwald’s investigations into chemical equilibria, chemical affinity, and acid-base interactions, he recognized that many established analytical methods disturb the chemical systems under investigation. He conducted significant research on dilution theory leading to conceptualization of the law of dilution.

Note:
Ostwald is credited with being one of the founders of the field of physical chemistry with Jacob Henricus Van’t Hoff, Walther Nernst and Svante Arrhenius. He got the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his scientific contribution.