fbpx

KidsKonnect

Kristian Birkeland Facts & Worksheets

Kristian Birkeland was a Norwegian scientist best known for his theories that explained the existence of the aurora borealis.

Search for Worksheets

Worksheets /People /Figures /Kristian Birkeland Facts & Worksheets
Premium
Kristian Birkeland Worksheets
Not ready to purchase a subscription? Click to download the free sample version   Download sample

Kristian Birkeland was a Norwegian scientist best known for his theories that explained the existence of the aurora borealis. He was a Nobel Prize nominee several times in recognition of his scientific contributions.

See the fact file below for more information on the Kristian Birkeland or alternatively, you can download our 26-page Kristian Birkeland worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

PERSONAL LIFE

  • Kristian Olaf Bernhard Birkeland was born to Ingeborg Ege and Reinart Birkeland on December 13, 1867 in Christiania, now known as Oslo.
  • He wrote his first scientific paper before finishing his secondary education when he was 18.
  • Kristian being able to publish a paper in his teenage years is proof of his avid interest in physical science and mathematics.
  • In 1885, he started studying at the University of Oslo. He was initially admitted for a chemistry and mathematics course, but shifted to theoretical physics.
  • He received his degree in 1890, with the highest grade in his class.
  • In May 1905, Kristian married Charlotte Hammer. They did not have any children, and divorced in 1911.

WORK AND CONTRIBUTIONS

  • Straight after graduating, Birkeland started experimenting with electrical oscillations running through a wire.
  • In January 1893, he became a Research Assistant at the University of Kristiania.
  • Between January 1893 and August 1895, he conducted research in Germany, Switzerland, and France.
  • Kristian started studying cathode rays in 1895. He later concluded that cathode rays were composed of electrically charged particles (electrons) and that they could be controlled using a magnetic field.
  • He also became fascinated with the connection of the Northern Lights to sunspots.
  • Birkeland arranged some expeditions to the high-latitude regions of Norway and was able to set up a network of observatories below the auroral regions for them to collect magnetic field data.
  • These expeditions were conducted from 1899 until 1900, and were known as the Norwegian Polar Expedition.
  • The data gathered from the expedition explained the electric current pattern that occurs in the polar region.
  • The invention of x-ray analysis inspired Kristian to create vacuum chambers to study the effects of magnets on cathode rays, believing that the connection between cathode rays and magnets could also explain how auroras are created.
  • He observed that a beam of electron shot towards a terrella was directed to the magnetic poles of the ball, producing light rings around the poles of the ball.
  • Birkeland then theorized that highly energized electrons are ejected from the sunspots, towards the earth, and are guided to the polar regions by the Earth’s geomagnetic field where the visible aurora is formed.
  • In 1908, Kristian published the book The Norwegian Aurora Polaris Expedition 1902-1903 wherein he suggested that polar electric currents were linked to a system of currents that run along geomagnetic field lines towards and away from the polar area. These currents are now called Birkeland currents.
  • The book also contained chapters discussing magnetic storms on Earth and their association with the origin of the sun and the sun itself, Halley’s comet, and Saturn’s rings.
  • Birkeland’s proposal of magnetic field-aligned currents was controversial because the existence of these currents could not be validated using solely ground-based measurements.
  • Many disputed and even ridiculed this theory at the time.
  • One of the main scientists to dispute Birkeland was Sydney Chapman. He argued that currents could not cross the vacuum of space, which is why the currents had to be caused by the Earth.
  • Kristian’s hypotheses were only confirmed during the space age, 50 years after his death.
  • In 1963, the US Navy satellite was launched above the ionosphere, carrying a magnetometer.
  • The magnetometer recorded magnetic disturbances on nearly every pass of the satellite over the Earth’s high-latitude regions.
  • These disturbances were initially thought to be hydromagnetic waves, but further analysis revealed they were caused by Birkeland currents.
  • Kristian’s research was so large-scale that obtaining funding for it became a significant obstacle.
  • Knowing that inventions could bring money, he decided to make an electromagnetic cannon and founded a firearms company.
  • His cannon worked but had a projectile range of 1 km only, so he changed the name of the device to aerial torpedo. He then arranged a demonstration of the cannon, aiming to sell the company.
  • During the demonstration, one of the coils shorted, producing an introductory arc with flame, noise, and smoke.
  • One week later, Birkeland met Sam Eyde. They worked together to make a plasma arc device for nitrogen fixation that was economically practical for large-scale manufacturing.
  • Norsk Hydro, the company formed by Eyde and Birkeland, immensely enriched Norway, and Kristian received sufficient funding for his research.
  • It is believed that Birkeland may have been the first person to prefigure that plasma was everywhere in space.
  • He also successfully predicted that solar wind works like any charged particle in an electric field and that these winds are made of negative and positive ions.

DEATH AND LEGACY

  • Birkeland used a drug as a sleeping aid. The drug made him very paranoid.
  • He traveled to Japan to meet some of his colleagues from the University of Tokyo, but he was found lifeless in his hotel room on June 15, 1917.
  • An autopsy revealed that instead of the prescribed 0.5g of the sleeping aid, Kristian had taken 10 g of it.
  • To commemorate his achievements, an illustration of one of his experiments was put on a previous version of the 200 kroner note in Norway. His portrait and an ultraviolet light-visible magnetosphere were also placed on the said note.
  • Kristian Birkeland laid the foundations for our understanding of polar auroras and geomagnetism.
  • Besides his theories on the auroras and his invention of fertilizer through nitrogen fixation, he also had patents on margarine, whale oil, and caviar.
  • Long before the official invention of the radio, he had already executed radio communication.
  • In 2017, Yara International, formerly Norsk Hydro, named their autonomous ship after Birkeland. This ship is known as the Yara Birkeland and is the world’s first autonomous container vessel.

Kristian Birkeland Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Kristian Birkeland across 26 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Kristian Birkeland worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Kristian Birkeland who was a Norwegian scientist best known for his theories that explained the existence of the aurora borealis. He was a Nobel Prize nominee several times in recognition of his scientific contributions.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Strong Pull
  • DeLightful Time
  • Tiny World
  • Astral Phenomena
  • Additional Interests
  • Fixing Nitrogen
  • Spot on the Sun
  • High Energy
  • Striking Light
  • Dozing Off

Link/cite this page

If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.

Link will appear as Kristian Birkeland Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, March 16, 2021

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

Related Resources