Exposition of the atomic theory of chymistry : and the doctrine of definite proportions / by William James Macneven ... ; with an appendix of chymical exercises, by the pupils of the laboratory, &c.

  • MacNeven, William James, 1763-1841.
Date:
1819
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Exposition of the atomic theory of chymistry : and the doctrine of definite proportions / by William James Macneven ... ; with an appendix of chymical exercises, by the pupils of the laboratory, &c. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    and 33-888 the weight of the same measure of oxi- gen gas. 11. The same law is observed by other elemen- tary bodies in a gaseous state. They unite in such proportions that one volume of the gas of one combines with an equal volume of the gas of the other, or with two or with three volumes, &c. of that gas, without any intermediate fraction ; so that in these combinations one at least of the elements ought always to be considered as unity. According to the atomic theory, this means that an atom of one of the elements combines with one or more entire atoms of the other, for there can be no fraction of an atom. The fact, that in every inorganic combi- nation one of the elements enters as unity, is foun- ded on numberless experiments, and is a deduction from the analytical researches of some of the ablest, chymists, particularly of Berzelius, who verified it in all the inorganic bodies which he analyzed. We have seen how strikingly this law is exempli- fied in the union of oxigen and hydrogen gases, and that the proportion in which they combine is definite. 12. Whereas the atoms of one kind of gas repel each other among themselves, and those of different gases attract each other, it follows that when they are mixed equably, as is the case when 2 measures of hydrogen and 1 of oxigen gas are put into a tube and fired by electricity, they will most readily unite