1 Ahmed Zewail
Ahmed Zewail |
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Time period:1946- 2016 Subject:Chemistry |
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Biography:Dr. Ahmed Zewail was an Egyptian Chemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1999. Dr. Ahmed Zewail was born in 1946 in Damanhur, Egypt, and grew up in Alexandria. He completed his B.Sc. and M.s Alexandria University. He then moved to the United States to pursue his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia under the supervision of Robin M. Hochstrasser. He then finished the rest of his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley. After completing his postdoctoral, Dr. Zewail transferred to California Institute of Technology in Pasadena where he worked as a professor and later on became the first Linus Pauling Chair in Chemical Physics. He worked there for nearly 40 years until his death in 2016. Dr. Zewail was appointed director of the Physical and Biology Centre for Ultrafast Science and Technology at the California Institute of Technology. He also served in President Barack Obama’s Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), which served as an advisory group of members who were the leading scientists and engineers at the time to advise the President in formulating policies surrounding areas of science.
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Summary of their contributions:Dr. Ahmed Zewail is often called “the father of femtochemistry”. Before Zewail scientists had a general idea of how reactions occurred, and what specific transition states formed between particles collisions. However, there was not a way to capture rapid chemical reactions in real-time as chemical reactions occurred in femtosecond (10-15s). In the late 1980s, Zewail developed a technique in which he was able to study chemical reactions in greater detail. Zewail used ultrafast laser technology which sent two pulses towards a molecule. The first pulse strikes the molecule and the second that excites it to a higher energy state. The ultrafast lasers were paired with cameras that flashed within femtoseconds (10-15s). In this way, Zewail was able to study the motion of molecules as they collided, formed bonds, and formed transition states. In addition to this, Zewail and his team used their knowledge of femtochemistry to invent a 4D electron microscope, where scientists could study the dynamics of atoms one billion times faster than previous electron microscopes. Zewail’s contributions to both femtochemistry and chemistry allowed scientists across the world to study reaction rates to be used for various applications. |
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Integration with the BC Secondary Science Curriculum:Dr. Ahmed Zewail’s contributions to chemistry, specifically in relation to femtochemistry, can be integrated into the BC Chemistry 12 curriculum. Particularly, in areas such as reaction rates, collision theory, and reaction mechanisms. As his work focuses mainly on studying the rapid processes of chemical reactions, educators can have lessons revolving around reaction rates, collision theory, and reaction mechanisms. In addition to this, students can examine images taken from ultrafast laser using femtochemistry to study transitions states of molecules, and chemical bonding between atoms.
In terms of Curricular competencies, Dr. Zewails work can be applied, but not limited to;
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References:The nobel prize in chemistry 1999. NobelPrize.org. (n.d.). https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1999/zewail/biographical/ Ahmed Hassan Zewail. 26 February 1946—2 August 2016. (n.d.). https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbm.2019.0040 Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Ahmed H. Zewail. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ahmed-Zewail |