Richard Abegg - Work

Work

During school, Abegg fulfilled his duties in the military. In 1891, Abegg became an officer in the German Reserves. In 1900, he became an Oberleutnant in the Reserves in the 9th Regiment of Hussars. In this year, he made his first trip in a balloon, for military purposes. Balloon trips became a frequent pastime of both Abegg and his wife. He made many scientific observations in his subsequent trips, which were never published.

In 1894, Abegg worked as an assistant to Walther Nernst, one of the founders of physical chemistry and, at the time, Professor of Physical Chemistry. Five years later, Abegg became a Privatdozent at the Wrocław University of Technology in Wroclaw, Poland. A year later he became a professor. Clara Immerwahr, the first wife of Fritz Haber, studied and graduated under him. In 1909 he became a full professor. Together with his colleague Guido Bodländer, he published on electro-affinity, then a new principle in inorganic chemistry.

Abegg is best known for his research recognizing the role that valence played in chemical interactions. He found that some elements were less likely to combine into molecules, and from this concluded that the more stable elements had what are now called full electron shells. He was able to explain the attraction of atoms through opposite electrical charges. He also made the distinction between normal valence and contravalence. He found that the sum of these two valences always comes to eight, a rule that is now known as Abegg's rule.

Abegg was the editor of Zeitschrift fur Elektrochernie from 1901 until his death in 1910.