The discharge of electricity through gases : lectures delivered on the occasion of the sesquicentennial of Princeton University / by J.J. Thomson ; with diagrams.

  • Thomson, J. J. (Joseph John), 1856-1940.
Date:
1898
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The discharge of electricity through gases : lectures delivered on the occasion of the sesquicentennial of Princeton University / by J.J. Thomson ; with diagrams. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    by temperature. At the ordinary temperature of the Laboratory there is very little electrification ; when, however, the temperature is raised to 40- 50° C, the electrification is very strong. When a solution of caustic potash is electrolyzed, there is, on the other hand, very little electrifica- tion in the hydrogen, while the oxygen is negatively electrified, though the amount of this electrification is not nearly so large as that on the hydrogen in the preceding experiment. In this case the hydro- gen is liberated by secondary chemical action, and the great diminution in its electrification as com- pared with the previous case seems to show that a gas is more likely to be electrified from electrolysis when it forms one of the ions than when it is lib- erated by secondary chemical action. The amount of electrification in the oxygen rapidly increases with the temperature. If oil is added to the caustic potash solution, the sign of the electrification in the oxygen changes, and the oxygen is positively instead of negatively electrified. The nature of the electrodes has a considerable influence on the amount of electrification which comes off with the gas. Formation of a Cloud round Electrified Gas. Mr. Townsend has discovered that electrified gas possesses the remarkable property of producing