William Sutherland (physicist)

William Sutherland ( born August 24, 1859 in Glasgow, Scotland, † October 4, 1911 in Melbourne, Australia) was an Australian physical chemist.

Life and work

Sutherland was born in 1859 in Glasgow, his parents emigrated to Australia in 1864 but. Sutherland grew up in Sydney and Melbourne. He took a degree in natural science at the University of Melbourne, which he, after a period of study in London, where he took courses in physics, in 1883 and graduated with a Master's.

He applied several times without success as a professor of chemistry and physics at several universities. It was not until 1899 he took over the chair of physics at the University of Sydney.

Sutherland worked from 1885 to the kinetic theory of gases. He developed the approach that in addition to the gravitational attraction between the particles was characterized by the other forces. His works, which were purely theoretical in nature, eventually led to the development of the Sutherland constant. This describes the increase in the effective cross section of molecules as a function of temperature.

Sutherland died in October 1911 from heart problems and is buried in the cemetery of Melbourne. His sister was the artist Jane Sutherland, who he helped to his death in mobility.