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H Is for Enthalpy, Thanks to Heike Kamerlingh Onnes and Alfred W. Porter
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Abstract
During the 19th century the letter H sometimes represented heat, but the designation of enthalpy was placed into the scientific literature in 1909 by J. P. Dalton and credited by him to Heike Kamerlingh Onnes. In 1922 Alfred W. Porter formally proposed that H become the accepted symbol for Kamerlingh Onnes' enthalpy. During the 20th century, however, the genesis of that word became obscured by error, speculation, and use without attribution. This paper resolves current confusion about origins of the word enthalpy and its symbol H by examining their early uses in the literature.
Keywords (Audience):
High School / Introductory ChemistryKeywords (Domain):
History / PhilosophyKeywords (Subject):
ThermodynamicsCiting Articles
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This article has been cited by 2 ACS Journal articles (2 most recent appear below).
H Is for Enthalpy
Hendrick C. Van NessJournal of Chemical Education2003 80 (5), 486H Is for Enthalpy
Hendrick C. Van NessJournal of Chemical Education2003 80 (5), 486Traces the first use of the word enthalpy and offers recommendations for its pronunciation.
The author replies to: H Is for Enthalpy
Irmgard K. HowardJournal of Chemical Education2003 80 (5), 486The author replies to: H Is for Enthalpy
Irmgard K. HowardJournal of Chemical Education2003 80 (5), 486Thanks for comments.
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- Received: August 03, 2009
ACS
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