Strohmeyer Friedrich

Strohmeyer, Friedrich (1776-1835) German chemist who taught Robert Bunsen and, in 1817, discovered the soft, bluish poisonous metal cadmium, now used in dry batteries, solders, and as a neutron absorber in nuclear reactors. 

Several people in the 18th and 19th centuries attempted to produce a pure form of zinc oxide for medical purposes. They were unaware that their samples contained cadmium, which at that time was an unknown element. In 1817 Friedrich Strohmeyer (1776—1835), a German chemist, analyzed a zinc compound (calamine) he believed contained zinc oxide (ZnO). However, what he really found was zinc carbonate (ZnCO ), which, though at first unknown to him, contained some cadmium. Strohmeyer then treated his sample with acids until all the zinc was dissolved and thus removed. He then heated the residue with carbon black, resulting in a small ingot of soft, bluish-white metal that proved to be a new element—cadmium. Strohmeyer is given credit for the discovery of cadmium. 

Cadmium Cd 1817 (Gottingen, Germany) Friedrich Strohmeyer (German) 143... 

German pharmacist Friedrich Strohmeyer Soft metal chemically similar to zinc used in electroplating and for rechargeable batteries neutron-absorbing properties make it useful in nuclear power plants. 

A soft, silvery metal, cadmium has chemical properties that are similar to those of zinc. However, compared to zinc, cadmium is very rare. Cadmium sulfide ores are one source of this metal. It is also present in zinc ores, but in such small amounts that it is usually only produced as a by-product of zinc refining. Cadmiums discovery is even linked with zinc. In 1817, the German chemist Friedrich Strohmeyer (1776-1835) discovered cadmium when he was studying the compound zinc oxide. 

Biology Daily The Biology Encyclopedia. Friedrich Stroh-meyer, Available online. URL http //www.biologydaily. com/biology/Friedrich Strohmeyer. 

Heidelberg. At Gottingen, the chemistry laboratories were established by Friedrich Strohmeyer (1775-1835) who was succeeded by Friedrich Wohler (1800-1882), a student of Leopold Gmelin (1788-1853). The latter was the originator of chemistry at Heidelberg, where he was followed by Robert Bunsen (1811-1899), a student of Strohmeyer. 

In the early days of chemistry, especially organic chemistry, between roughly 1820 and 1895, academic genealogy was a way for proud professors (and proud former students) to show their common roots, their similar research interests and their influence upon the world of chemistry. This was a great period for organic and physical chemistry (1-7), when the students of Jons Jakob Berzelius, Friedrich Wohler, Friedrich Strohmeyer, Robert Bunsen, Justus von Liebig, Friedrich Kekule, August von Hoffman, and later of Adolph von Baeyer, Viktor Meyer, Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald, Otto Wallach and Hermann von Helmholtz were the leaders of the chemical (and physical in the case of Helmholtz) research and education world. 

---