20 kroner – H. C. Ørsted - Electromagnetism

As a physicist and chemist, Hans Christian Ørsted became world-famous for discovering electromagnetism. During a lecture at the University of Copenhagen in 1820, Hans Christian Ørsted made an experiment in which he held a live wire over a compass needle, which deflected slightly. The result of this experiment aroused great interest in scientific circles, as Hans Christian Ørsted had discovered electromagnetism, which became a new branch of physics. In addition to physics and chemistry, Hans Christian Ørsted was interested in the Danish language. He advocated using Danish at the University rather than Latin, as he believed this would liven up scientists' language and promote educational dissemination of research findings. As part of this linguistic campaign, Hans Christian Ørsted coined a number of Danish words, many of which are still in use. These include 'brint' (hydrogen), 'ilt' (oxygen) and 'vægtfylde' (specific gravity), but also more artistically oriented words such as 'billedkunst' (visual art), 'ildsjæl' (fiery soul) and 'tankeeksperiment' (thought experiment).