scholarly journals On the constitution of the atmosphere

1833 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 267-268
Keyword(s):  
Total Pressure ◽  
Carbonic Acid ◽  
Hydrogen Atmosphere ◽  
The Other ◽  
Vertical Column ◽  
Sir Isaac Newton ◽  
Isaac Newton ◽  
Whole Space ◽  
Gaseous Atmospheres ◽  
Elastic Fluids

The object of this paper is to examine the consequences as respects the proportion of the component parts of the atmosphere simultane­ously existing at different heights in one vertical column, which would follow from the atomic theory, on the supposition of a finite number of atoms existing in corporeal bodies, and of such a law of repulsion prevailing among those of elastic fluids, as Sir Isaac Newton appears to have supposed, in which the repulsive power of each par­ticle terminates at the particles immediately adjacent. It is well known that when two or more mutually inactive gaseous fluids are mixed, each distributes itself uniformly through the whole space oc­cupied, and each sustains a part of the whole pressure retaining them, proportioned to its density. This is a necessary consequence of the mutual inelasticity and independence of the gaseous atmospheres with respect to each other. Each exerts the whole mechanical force its quantity will allow, without regard to the others; and the sum of all these forces in the state of equilibrium counterbalances the total pressure. This uniformity of density, however, is only a consequence of the assumed principle, where the gases occupy such small spaces as we can command in our experiments, in which the total pressure may be regarded as uniform, in a vertical as well as in a horizontal direction; it is otherwise when we regard a column of indefinite height, or one prolonged to the limit of the atmosphere, —a limit at which the weight of a single particle is in exact equilibrio with the repul­sion between two contiguous ones. It is this case which the author considers in the paper before us. He supposes, for simplicity, two atmospheric columns, one of hydrogen, and the other of carbonic acid, each supporting at its base a pressure of 30 inches of mercury; of such height as to reach to the respective limits of each atmo­sphere, divided each by partitions into cells of equal magnitude, at first insulated from each other, then made to communicate, and finally, the cells to be withdrawn, and a free communication established be­tween every part of the two columns: and from an analysis of what passes in the act of communication, and from the general principles of pneumatic chemistry, he is led to the conclusion, that the arrange­ment of each of the gases in the united column will be precisely the same as if the other had no existence; that is, that each will form a separate and independent atmospheric column, containing at its base a pressure of fifteen inches, and decreasing in density according to its own peculiar law; so that after, a certain height the limit of the carbonic acid atmosphere being passed, hydrogen alone would exist in the column, and after the limit of the hydrogen atmosphere were attained a vacuum.

scholarly journals II. On the properties of matter in the gaseous and liquid states under various conditions of temperature and pressure

1887 ◽  
Vol 178 ◽  
pp. 45-56 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Carbonic Acid ◽  
Gaseous Mixture ◽  
Acid Gas ◽  
Whole Space ◽  
Intimate Mixture ◽  
Oxygen Gas ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Liquid States ◽  
Elastic Fluids ◽  
Mixed Gases

According to Dalton, the particles of one gas possess no repulsive or attractive power with regard to the particles of another gas; and accordingly, if m measures of a gas A be mixed with n measures of another gas B, each will occupy m + n measures of space. The density of A in such a mixture will be m / m + n' and of B, n / m + n' , the pressure upon any one particle of such a gaseous mixture arising solely from particles of its own kind. “It is scarcely necessary,” Dalton remarks, “to insist upon the application of this hypothesis to the solution of all our difficulties respecting the constitution of mixed gases where no chemical union ensues. The moment we admit it every difficulty vanishes. The atmosphere, or, to speak more properly, the compound of atmospheres, may exist together in the most intimate mixture without any regard to their specific gravities, and without any pressure upon one another. Oxygen gas, azotic gas, hydrogenous gas, carbonic acid gas, aqueous vapour, and probably several other elastic fluids, may exist in company under any pressure, and at any temperature, without any regard to their specific gravities, and without any pressure upon one another, while each of them, however paradoxical it may appear, occupies the whole space allotted to them all.” In conformity with this law, Gay Lussac found that the vapours of alcohol and water mix like two gases which have no action upon one another. The density of the mixed vapours agreed closely with the density calculated according to Dalton’s law. In 1836 Magnus published an important memoir on the same subject. He found that, if two liquids which do not mix with one another are introduced into a barometer tube, the tension of the mixed vapours at any temperature is equal to the sum of the tensions of the vapours of the two liquids. But when the liquids have the property of mixing with one another the behaviour of their vapours he found to be altogether different. The tension of the mixed vapours was no longer equal to the sum of the tensions of each vapour separately. This statement appears at first view to contradict the experiments of Gay Lussac, but, as Magnus himself has pointed out, the conditions under which the observations of the two eminent physicists were made were essentially different. In the experiments of Gay Lussac the mixed liquids were wholly converted into vapour, and therefore the mixed vapours formed were not in contact with any liquid, while in those of Magnus an excess of the mixed liquids was always present, and in contact with the vapour,

Brighter than how many suns? Sir Isaac Newton’s burning mirror

1989 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-51 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Radiant Heat ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sir Isaac Newton ◽  
Isaac Newton ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Hearsay Evidence

There are a number of references in the scientific literature to a burning mirror designed by Sir Isaac Newton (1). Together, they record that it was made from seven separate concave glasses, each about a foot in diameter, that Newton demonstrated its effects at several meetings of the Royal Society and that he presented it to the Society. Nonetheless, neither the earliest published list of instruments possessed by the Royal Society nor the most recent one mentions the burning mirror; the latest compiler does not even include it amongst those items, once owned, now lost. No reference to the instrument apparently survives in the Society’s main records. It is not listed by the author of the recent compendium on Newton’s life and work (2). There is, however, some contemporary information still extant (Appendix 1). Notes of the principles of its design and some of its effects are to be found in the Society’s Journal Book for 1704; some of the dimensions and the arrangement of the mirrors are given in a Lexicon published by John Harris which he donated to the Royal Society at the same meeting, 12 July 1704, at which Newton gave the Society the speculum. The last reference in the Journal Book is dated 15 November that year, when Mr Halley, the then secretary to the Society, was desired to draw up an account of the speculum and its effects (3). No such account appears to have been presented to the Royal Society. There is no reference in Newton’s published papers and letters of his chasing Halley to complete the task, nor is there any mention of it in the general references to Halley. The latter was, of course, quite accustomed to performing odd jobs for Newton; that same year he was to help the Opticks through the press. The only other contemporary reference to the burning mirror, though only hearsay evidence since Flamsteed was not present at the meeting, is in a letter the latter wrote to James Pound; this confirms that there were seven mirrors and that the aperture of each was near a foot in diameter (4). Because John Harris gave his Dictionary to the Royal Society in Newton’s presence, it is reasonable to assume that his description is accurate. As Newton would hardly have left an inaccurate one unchallenged, then, belatedly, the account desired of Mr Halley can be presented. In some respects, the delay is advantageous, since the subject of radiant heat and its effects, although already by Newton’s period an ancient one, is today rather better understood. On the other hand, some data has to be inferred, that could have been measured, and some assumptions made about Newton’s procedures and understanding that could have been checked (5).

scholarly journals Experiments for investigating the cause of the coloured concentric rings, discovered by Sir Isaac Newton , between two object-glasses laid upon one anther

1832 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 264-268
Keyword(s):  
Focal Length ◽  
Considerable Extent ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sir Isaac Newton ◽  
Isaac Newton ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Made In

The account, given by Sir Isaac Newton, of these coloured arcs, appeared to Dr. Herschel highly interesting, but he was not satisfied with the explanation of them. Sir Isaac Newton accounts for the production of the rings, by ascribing to the rays of light certain fits of easy transmission and alternate reflection; but this hypothesis seemed not easily to be reconciled with the minuteness and extreme velocity of the particles of light. With the view of inquiring further into the cause of these phenomena, Dr. Herschel, so long since as the year 1792, borrowed of this Society the two object-glasses of Huygens, one of 122, and the other of 170 feet focal length. Notwithstanding various interruptions, the series of experiments, made in the course of this time, has been carried to a considerable extent; and Dr. Herschel thinks the conclusions that may be drawn from them, sufficiently well supported to point out several modifications of light that have been totally overlooked, and others that have not been properly discriminated.

scholarly journals IX. On the laws which regulate the polarisation of light by reflexion from transparent bodies. By David Brewster, LL. D. F. R. S. Edin. and F. S. A. Edin. In a letter addressed to Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. K. B. P. R. S

1815 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. 125-159 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Angle Of Incidence ◽  
Double Refraction ◽  
Sir Isaac Newton ◽  
Isaac Newton ◽  
Refractive Power ◽  
Polarised Light ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Optics ◽  
General Fact

Dear Sir, The discovery of the polarisation of light by reflexion, con­stitutes a memorable epoch in the history of optics; and the name of Malus, who first made known this remarkable pro­perty of bodies, will be for ever associated with a branch of science which he had the sole merit of creating. By a few brilliant and comprehensive experiments he established the general fact, that light acquired the same property as one of the pencils formed by double refraction, when it was reflected at a particular angle from the surfaces of all transparent bodies: he found that the angle of incidence at which this property was communicated, was greater in bodies of a high refractive power, and he measured, with considerable accuracy, the polarising angles for glass and water. In order to discover the law which regulated the phenomena, he com­pared these angles with the refractive and dispersive powers of glass and water, and finding that there was no relation be­tween these properties of transparent bodies, he draws the following general conclusion. “The polarising angle neither“ follows the order of the refractive powers, nor that of the “dispersive forces. It is a property of bodies independent“ of the other modes of action which they exercise upon “light.“ This premature generalisation of a few imperfectly ascer­tained facts, is perhaps equalled only by the mistake of Sir Isaac Newton, who pronounced the construction of an achromatic telescope to be incompatible with the known principles of optics. Like Newton, too, Malus himself aban­doned the enquiry; and even his learned associates in the Institute, to whom he bequeathed the prosecution of his views, have sought for fame in the investigation of other properties of polarised light.

Roman Blast Furnace in Lincolnshire

1932 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 262-268
Author(s):  
Ian C. Hannah
Keyword(s):  
Blast Furnace ◽  
The Other ◽  
Natural Soil ◽  
Sir Isaac Newton ◽  
North West ◽  
Isaac Newton ◽  
Oolitic Limestone ◽  
The North ◽  
Birth Place ◽  
East End

Close to the hamlet of Woolsthorpe (the birth place of Sir Isaac Newton), in the parish of Colsterworth, Lincolnshire, on Thursday, 21st January 1932, the miners quarrying ore for the Frodingham Iron & Steel Co. unearthed a remarkably perfect furnace or bloomery of the Roman period. In shape it was box-like, roughly but carefully hand-moulded of grey indurated clay of the local Upper Lias formation; a fragment of an ammonite fossil was found in a crack. The length was nearly 3 ft., the upper or north-west end was about 22 in., and the lower or south-east end about 24 in. in width. The top was practically level and flat, but the bottom dipped, slightly from the northwest end for about 21 in., then very sharply, so that the depth increased from 15 in. at the north-west end to 21 in. at the other. The sides were irregular, about 6 in. thick at most, and in the middle of each was a tuyere hole, some 6 in. in diameter, sharply splayed externally. The ends were open; the north-west one was evidently the charging, and the other the tipping end. The actual bottom was only about half an inch thick of the same clay, but below this were 3 or 4 in. of a different bluish clay and under it some apparently partly burned oolitic limestone brought from near by. The natural soil is the ironstone whose quarrying led to the discovery of the furnace (pl. XLIV, fig. 1).

An attempt to account for the discrepancy between the actual velocity of sound in air or vapour, and that resulting from theory

1837 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 458-458
Keyword(s):  
Carbonic Acid ◽  
Hydrogen Gas ◽  
Velocity Of Sound ◽  
Sir Isaac Newton ◽  
Isaac Newton ◽  
Acid Gas ◽  
Temperature Of Maximum Density ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Organ Pipes ◽  
Rectilinear Space

Sir Isaac Newton determined from theory that the velocity of the undulations of an elastic medium generally is equal to that which a heavy body acquires in falling by the action of gravity through half the height of a homogeneous atmosphere of that medium; but the actual velocity of sound in atmospheric air is found to be one eighth greater than what is assigned by that formula. This difference was attempted to be accounted for by Newton on the supposition that the molecules of air are solid spheres, and that sound is transmitted through them instanter . Laplace endeavoured to reconcile the difference between theory and observation, by the hypothesis that heat is disengaged from each successive portion of air during the progress of the condensed wave. The author of the present paper regards the hypothesis of Laplace as a gratuitous and improbable assumption ; the falsehood of which he thinks is apparent from the fact that a rarefied wave advances through air with the same velocity as a condensed wave, which would not be the case if in either instance their progress were influenced by the heat evolved. He then enters into calculations to show that if the molecules of water be assumed as incompressible, and, when at the temperature of maximum density, very nearly in absolute contact, we ought, in estimating the velocity of sound in steam, to add to the velocity given by the formula of Newton, the rectilinear space occupied by the molecules; which, if a cubic inch of water be converted into a cubic foot of steam, will be one twelfth of the distance. By comparative experiments with a tuning-fork held over a tube, closed at one end, and containing at one time air, and at another steam, and also by similar trials with organ pipes of variable lengths, the author found a close agreement between his theory and observation. He also shows that this theory furnishes the means of determining, à priori , the density of a liquid, if the velocity of sound in the vapour of that liquid be given. In a postscript he adduces further confirmation of the truth of his theory by observations on the velocity of sound in hydrogen gas, and in carbonic acid gas.

scholarly journals XIII. On the constitution of the atmosphere

1826 ◽  
Vol 116 ◽  
pp. 174-187 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Sir Isaac Newton ◽  
Atmospheric Air ◽  
Isaac Newton ◽  
Elastic Fluid ◽  
Elastic Fluids

The fact discovered by Boyle and Marriotte, that the space occupied by air is in the inverse ratio of the pressure, is one of great importance in the doctrine of elastic fluids. It may probably not be mathematically true in extreme cases; but in those where the condensations and rarefactions do not exceed 50 or 100 times, there is reason to believe the above ratio is a very near approximation to the truth. Sir Isaac Newton has shown in the 23d prop, book ii. of the Principia, that if homogeneous particles of matter were endued with a power of repulsion in the inverse ratio of their central distances, collectively they would form an elastic fluid agreeing with atmospheric air in its mechanical properties. He does not infer from this demonstration that elastic fluids must necessarily consist of such particles; and his argument requires that the repulsive power of each particle terminate, or very nearly so, in the adjacent particles. From the scholium to this proposition, Newton was evidently aware of the difficulty of conceiving how the repulsive action of such particles could terminate so abruptly as his supposition demands; but in order to show that such cases exist in nature, he finds a parallel one in magnetism.

II. On the precession of the equinoxes

1807 ◽  
Vol 97 ◽  
pp. 57-82
Keyword(s):  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Sir Isaac Newton ◽  
Isaac Newton ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Figure Of The Earth ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Theory Of Gravity

Perhaps the solution of no other problem, in natural philo­sophy, has so often baffled the attempts of mathematicians as that of determining the precession of the equinoxes, by the theory of gravity. The phenomenon itself was observed about one hundred and fifty years before the Christian æra, but Sir Isaac Newton was the first who endeavoured to estimate its magnitude by the true principles of motion, combined with the attractive influence of the sun and moon on the spheroidal figure of the earth. It has always been allowed, by those competent to judge, that his investigations relating to the subject evince the same transcendent abilities as are displayed in the other parts of his immortal work, the mathematical Principles of natural Philosophy, but, for more than half a century past, it has been justly asserted that he made a mistake in his process, which rendered his conclusions erro­neous. Since the detection of this error, some of the most eminent mathematicians in Europe have attempted solutions of the problem. Their success has been various; but their investi­gations may be arranged under three general heads. Under the first of these may be placed such as lead to a wrong conclusion, in consequence of a mistake committed in some part of the proceedings. The second head may be allotted to those in which the conclusions may be admitted as just, but rendered so by the counteraction of opposite errors. Such may be ranked under the third head as are conducted without error fatal to the conclusion, and in which the result is as near the truth as the subject seems to admit.

scholarly journals XXIV. A discourse concerning the menstrual parallax, arising from the mutual gravitation of the Earth and Moon; it's influence on the observations of the Sun and Planets; with a method of observing it: By J. Smeaton, F. R. S

1768 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 156-169 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Center Of Gravity ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Sir Isaac Newton ◽  
Isaac Newton ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Common Center

It is demonstrated by Sir Isaac Newton in the Principia , that it is not the Earth's center, but the common center of gravity of the Earth and Moon, that describes the ecliptic; and that the Earth and Moon revolve in similar ellipses, about their common center of gravity.

scholarly journals Bibliography of recent books and articles dealing with the history of the Royal Society

1970 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-133
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
New Haven ◽  
Yale University ◽  
Sir Isaac Newton ◽  
Charles Town ◽  
Isaac Newton ◽  
James Cook ◽  
John Hunter ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Sciences

Each number of Notes and Records contains a short bibliography of books and articles dealing with the history of the Royal Society or its Fellows which have been noted since the publication of the last number. If Fellows would be good enough to draw the Editor’s attention to omissions these would be added to the list in the next issue. Books Badash, L. (Editor). Rutherford and Boltwood: letters on radioactivity. (Yale studies in the History of Sciences and Medicine, Vol. 4.) New Haven: Yale University Press, 1969. $12.50. Begg, A. C. and Begg, N.C. James Cook and New Zealand . Wellington, N.Z.: A. R. Shearer, 1969. £ 2 5s. Berkeley, E. and Berkeley, Dorothy, S. Dr Alexander Gordon of Charles Town . University of North Carolina Press, 1969. $10.00. Bestcrman, T. Voltaire. London: Longmans, 1969. 8s. Bowden, D. K. Leibniz as a librarian and eighteenth-century librarians Germany . London: University College, 1969. 7s. 6d. Darwin, C. R. Questions about the breeding of animals . Facsim. repr. with an introduction by Sir Gavin Dc Beer. London: Society for the Bibliography of Natural History, 1969. £1 15s. Davis, N. P. Lawrence and Openhimer . London: Cape, 1969. 2s. Dobson, J. John Hunter. Edinburgh & London: E. & S. Livingstone, 1969. £ 2 10s. Eales, N. B. The Cole library of early medicine and zoology . Catalogue of books and pamphlets. Part 1. 1472 to 1800. Oxford: Aldcn Press for the Library, University of Reading, 1969. £$ 5s. Edleston, J. (Editor). Correspondence of Sir Isaac Newton and Professor Cotes . (1830.) (Cass Library of Science Classics. No. 12.) London: Frank Cass, 1969. £ 6 6s. Fothergill, B. Sir William Hamilton . Faber and Faber, 1969. £ 2 10s. French, R. K. Robert Whytt, the soul, and medicine . (Publications of the Wellcome Institute, No. 17.) London: Wellcome Institute of the History of Medicine, 1969. £ 2 5s.

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