John C. Polanyi

Facts

John C. Polanyi

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

John C. Polanyi
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1986

Born: 23 January 1929, Berlin, Germany

Affiliation at the time of the award: University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Prize motivation: “for their contributions concerning the dynamics of chemical elementary processes”

Prize share: 1/3

Work

Chemical reactions in which molecules comprised of atoms collide and form new compounds represent one of nature’s fundamental processes. At the end of the 1950s John Polanyi began developing methods to carefully study the dynamics of chemical reactions. During chemical reactions, the newly formed molecules are sometimes infused with energy that then is emitted in the form of infrared light. By measuring this very weak radiation, the quantum mechanical energy state of the molecules can be determined and the reaction mapped.

To cite this section
MLA style: John C. Polanyi – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Mon. 11 Dec 2023. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1986/polanyi/facts/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Streams during Nobel Week

Watch the 2023 Nobel Prize lectures, the Nobel Prize Concert, Nobel Week Dialogue, the prize award ceremonies in Oslo and Stockholm and Nobel Peace Prize Forum here at nobelprize.org.
Watch lectures and award ceremonies

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.