Ernest Ornaldo Lawrence

Born: 8 August 1901, Canton, South Dakota, United States.
Studied: Yale University, The University of Chicago, University of Minnesota, St. Olaf College, University of South Dakota.
INVENTIONS

1.Cyclotron:-

A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator which repeatedly propels a beam of charged particles (protons) in a circular path. Medical radioisotopes are made from non-radioactive materials (stable isotopes) which are attacked by these protons.Cyclotron based nuclear physics experiments are used to measure basic properties of isotopes (particularly short lived radioactive isotopes).

2.Isotope Separation:-

Isotope separation is the process of concentrating specific isotopes of a chemical element by removing other isotopes. The use of the nuclides produced is varied. The six methods of isotope separation we have described so far (diffusion, distillation, centrifugation, thermal diffusion, exchange reactions, and electrolysis) have all been tried with some degree of success on either uranium or hydrogen or both.

3.Calutron:-

The calutron is a type of sector mass spectrometer, an instrument in which a sample is ionized and then accelerated by electric fields and deflected by magnetic fields. The ions ultimately collide with a plate and produce a measurable electric current. Since the ions of the different isotopes have the same electric charge but different masses, the heavier isotopes are deflected less by the magnetic field, causing the beam of particles to separate into several beams by mass, striking the plate at different locations. The mass of the ions can be calculated according to the strength of the field and the charge of the ions. During World War II, calutrons were developed to use this principle to obtain substantial quantities of high-purity uranium-235, by taking advantage of the small mass difference between uranium isotopes.

Awards:- Enrico Fermi Award, Nobel Prize, Elliott Cresson Medal, Sylvanus Thayer Award, Hughes Medal, William Procter Prize, Comstock Prize, IET Faraday Medal.

Death:-27th August, 1958,Palo Alto, California.