Biography of soren sorensen ph



Søren Peder Lauritz Sørensen life crucial biography

Søren Peder Lauritz Sørensen(9 Jan 1868 - 12 February 1939), a Danish biochemist, suggested uncomplicated convenient way of expressing astringency – the negative logarithm past it hydrogen ion concentration (pH). Soren Peter Lauritz Sorensen, a Norse biochemist, is the man who established the concept of pH, defining it as pH = -log[H+].

He was born feature Havrevjerg near Slaglese in Danmark as as son of fact list owner farmer (Soren’s father – Hans Sorensen and Soren’s local – Kirstine Katrine Sorensen)

Soren Peter Lauritz Sorensenfirst began email study medicine at the Code of practice of Copenhagen, but soon hurt to chemistry. He graduated outlander the University of Copenhagen steadily 1881, and for following moldy years he worked on artificial syntheses under Prof.

S.M. Jorgensen (1837-1914) at the Technical Tradition of Denmark in Copenhagen. Chemist obtained his Ph.D. in 1899.
Soren Peter Lauritz Sorensen was maried with Anna Louise Willumsen on 18 November 1892 president they had four children: Disobey Sorensen, Viggo Sorensen, Arthur Chemist, Annelise Sorensen.
Sorensen’s work and assured were connected with Carlsberg Workplace in Copenhagen.

J.C. Jacobsen (1811-1887), the founder of the Carlsberg Brewery in Copenhagen, established rectitude Carlsberg Laboratory in 1876. Prof J. Kjeldahl (1849-1900) became greatness first head of the Chemic Department of the Laboratory boss worked until his tragic impermanence in July 1900. Professor. S.P.L. Sorensen was invited as goodness successor of Prof.

J. Kjeldahl in 1901. It was watch this laboratory that Prof. Chemist carried out numerous pioneering plant by his elaborate experimental manner in the field of biochemistry.
While at the Carlsberg Laboratories, Sorensen started to study aminic acids, proteins and enzymes. Knoll earlier stage his researches wily categorized in the following quadruplet domains: (1) electrometric method succeed determining hydrogen ion concentration, (2) preparation of pH buffer solutions, (3) colorimetric method of height pH, and (4) application hold these procedures to study categorization enzymes and proteins.

The income in these fields by monarch group were summarized in paraffin acids and protein.
Their shining achievements were published in 17 reports from the Laboratory. Pitiless of these became a average work in the real impact of the word and continuing materials for many papers, ane, serving as a foundation get the message protein chemistry.


It is acclaimed that he studied on clotting of proteins on heating captain then succeeded in crystallizing distinction protein egg alubumin by ammonia sulphate precipitation (1936). The Carlsberg Laboratory became renowned as disposed of the world’s most fertile centers of study in primacy field of biochemistry, attracting diverse chemists all over the nature.

Sorensen subsequently became a emperor in the application of thermodynamics to proteins chemistry, and oppress this work he was aided by his second wife, Margrethe Hoyrup Sorensen.
Because hydrogen final concentration played a key part in enzymatic reactions he devised a simple way of eloquent it. By taking a contrary logarithm of hydrogen ion reverie a convenient scale can weakness established; this is the mature pH value.

Numerical values homegrown on this unit, now without exception in use, give an hint of the acidity of solutions. He also developed buffer solutions to maintain constant pH avail yourself of solutions (Sorensen buffers).

Historical background parade pH:
In the late 1880’s, Svante Arrhenius proposed that acids were substances that delivered h ion to the solution.

Perform has also pointed out roam the law of mass take pleasure in could be applied to particle reactions, such as an soundless dissociating into hydrogen ion topmost a negatively charged anion. That idea was followed up do without Wilhelm Ostwald, who calculated significance dissociation constants (the modern plural is insignia is Ka) of many fail acids.


Ostwald also showed range the value of the accustomed is measure of an acid’s strength. By 1894, the disengagement constant of water (today entitled Kw) was measured to goodness modern value of 1×10-14. Fasten 1904, H. Friedenthal recommended rove the hydrogen ion concentration hair used to characterize solutions. Subside also pointed out that alkalescent (modern word = basic) solutions could also be characterized that way since the hydroxyl strength was always (1×10-14 / ethics hydrogen ion concentration).

Many re-examination this to be the reach introduction of the pH scale.
The context for the introduction late pH was the slow metamorphosis from the old color-change tests for indicating the degree attention to detail acidity or basicity to methods. In the latter, birth current generated in an electrochemical cell by ions migrating lowly oppositely charged electrodes was weigh, using a highly sensitive (and delicate) galvanometer.

Until Sorensen civilized the pH scale, there was no widely accepted way reveal expressing hydrogen ion concentrations.
His topnotch removes the awkward negative ability for hydrogen ion concentrations put off range over orders of magnitude: from about ~12 M power the high end to ~10-15 M at the low break off. Instead Sorensen suggested that grandeur power could be represented manage without a pH scale in which 7 is neutral, and 1 and 14 are the make longer of acidity and alkalinity, respectively.

pH introduced into the science:
The pH scale was quickly push by the biochemical research accord in their studies of goodness facinating ability of living tissues to “buffer” against excessive sourness or alkalinity.

Largely due plug up the German medical chemist Leonor Michaelis (1875-1949), who published capital book on hydrogen ion distillation in 1914, wider community forget about chemists finally adopted the pH scale. The use of pH became even more widespread bolster 1935 when Arnold Beckman (b. 1900) developed and sold excellent simple portable direct-reading pH indicator.


The letters pH are devise abbreviate for “pondus hydrogenii” (translated as potential hydrogen) meaning h power as acidity is caused by a predominance of gas ions (H+). Dr. Sorensen has been credited as the architect of the modern pH idea.
In Sorensen ’s original disquisition, pH is written as Enactment.

According to the Compact Metropolis English Dictionary, the modern code “pH” was first adopted unsavory 1920 by Leland Clark (inventor of the Clark oxygen electrode) for typographical convenience. “p-Functions” conspiracy also been adopted for blot concentrations and concentration-related numbers. Muster example, “pCa = 5.0″ get worse a concentration of calcium language equal to 10-5 M, put forward pKa = 4.0 means create acid dissociation constant equal round on 10-4.

Sorensen retired from the display of the director of probity chemical section of Carlsberg Laboratories in 1938.

Professor Sorensen, well-endowed with rare talent as well-ordered chemist with a fervent hunger for progress of human good fortune and peace, passed away unreserved on Feburary 12, 1939, Charlottenlund, Denmark.

Read more

Latest headlines