Physics of the Ether (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1875 Excerpt: ...stated, be taken as certain that this estimate for the intensity of the ether pressure is less than the actual fact, since the distance traversed by the molecule has undoubtedly been taken too large. Moreover, this result only represents the difference of the ether pressure upon the opposite sides of the molecule, effective in the process of combination, and not the value of the normal or total ether pressure itself. However, the result arrived at is sufficient to indicate the high value of the ether pressure and the high intensity of the store of motion enclosed in the ether, as the motive agent in these forcible molecular movements of matter. 97. Since the work done in separating molecules is appreciably equal to the work done in the combination of the molecules, it would be possible, therefore, from the above data, to form an estimate of the direct tensile strain or pull that would be required, in order to separate from each other the oxygen and hydrogen molecules forming a given quantity of water, it being imagined that a strain could be applied for this object. Thus, if we take a grain of water, then the value of the strain required to separate the molecules being four hundred and twenty-four billion times the weight of the hydrogen molecules, and the total weight of the hydrogen molecules in a grain of water being one ninth of a grain; we have accordingly 424 billions X grain = 3,000,000 tons, in round numbers. This result shows, therefore, that under the condition that a movement of the hydrogen molecule through a distance not greater than one millionth of an inch would effect separation, a direct tensile strain amounting in total value to not less than three million tons would be required to separate the components of the compound molecules forming ...