Brian Thrush facts for kids

Brian Arthur Thrush (born 23 July 1928 – died 14 September 2023) was a smart British scientist. He was a physical chemist. This means he studied how matter behaves and changes. He taught at the University of Cambridge and was a special member of Emmanuel College for life.

What Brian Thrush Studied

Brian Thrush loved to study tiny particles like atoms. He also looked at something called "free radicals." These are very reactive atoms or groups of atoms. He studied how they behave when they are in a gas phase (like air).

He used special tools called spectroscopic methods to see these tiny particles. Imagine using a super powerful light to look at things you can't normally see!

Looking at Explosions

One of his big achievements was studying explosions. He was the first to really look closely at the "absorption spectra" of free radicals during explosions. He used a method called flash photolysis. This is like taking a super-fast photo with a bright flash to see what happens in a split second.

He found the absorption spectra for several new free radicals. These included the azide, cyclopentadienyl, and tropyl radicals. He also figured out how much energy it takes to remove an electron from the tropyl radical. This is called its ionisation potential.

Studying Chemical Reactions

Thrush also found a new way to study how hydrogen atoms react. He measured how fast different atoms react with each other. These reactions are important for things like combustion (burning) and what happens in the upper atmosphere (high up in the sky).

He was also interested in chemiluminescence. This is when light is made by a chemical reaction. Think of a glow stick! He wrote many papers about how molecules make light when they transfer or recombine electrons.

More Discoveries

Brian Thrush also created a way to study how molecules change on their own. This is called a "unimolecular reaction." He used light to give molecules a known amount of energy.

He also studied the "rotational spectra" of free radicals like NH2, PH2, and PH. He used something called the Zeeman effect. This effect uses a magnetic field to make the particles easier to see with a far infrared laser.

His Later Years

Brian Thrush passed away in Cambridge on 14 September 2023. He was 95 years old.

Awards and Special Recognitions

Brian Thrush received several important awards for his work:

• In 1965, he won the Tilden Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry.
• In 1976, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honour for scientists in the UK.
• In 1982, he won the Polanyi Medal.