Inventors at Work, with Chapters on DiscoveryIles, George
History
Inventors at Work, with Chapters on Discovery
Iles, George
Inventions -- History; Inventors
By virtue, also, of its minuteness the molecule as a reservoir of energy
can far excel a mass of visible dimensions. Let us compare two rotating
spheres, one of them of seven times the radius of the other. We spin
both at the same peripheral rate, and gradually increase this speed:
which will be the first to break apart under centrifugal strain? The
larger, and why? Because the cohesion of a sphere is in proportion to
the area of its great circle, which varies as the square of its
diameter, while centrifugal strain under swift rotation varies as the
cube of that diameter, or as the volume of the sphere. From this it
follows that we may safely spin our small sphere with a circumferential
velocity seven times that given the large sphere; therefore as
containers of energy small spheres are more effective than large, and
this inversely as their diameters. Spheres, or bodies of any other form,
if reduced in dimensions to 1/760,000,000th, would as reservoirs of
energy gain 760,000,000-fold. Thus we open a door of explanation
regarding the stupendous contrast between chemical energy and mechanical
work. Chemical processes are exerted by molecules and atoms, mechanical
work takes place among masses comparatively enormous in bulk. It may
require a hundred blows from a ponderous steam hammer to raise the
temperature of an iron bar ten degrees; that bar melts in ten seconds
when plunged into a flame produced by a few ounces of hydrogen and
oxygen gases.
Recent experiments by Professor Joseph J. Thomson point to the
probability that the atom of the chemist while a unit, is in part built
of electrons each but one-thousandth part the size of a hydrogen atom.
An electron, by virtue of its infinitesimal minuteness, becomes able to
hold proportionately much more energy than is possible to an atom moving
as a whole. This brings us to some comprehension of the astonishing
powers of radium, an element which maintains itself at a temperature 3°
to 5° Centigrade higher than that of its surroundings, probably through
the collision within each atom of its component parts.
[Illustration: Dvorak Sound-mill.]
Repulsion by Sound and Light.
Water-waves as they strike a shore or the sides of a basin exert a
thrust, or a repelling action, which may easily be observed. That
sound-waves act in similar fashion is proved by a little sound-mill
devised in 1883 by Professor V. Dvorak, of the University of Agram in
Austria. It consists of four vanes, each a small card slightly curved,
mounted on a spindle. In a sounding-box nearby is a tuning-fork which
may be struck through its stem F. A Helmholtz resonator has its wide
opening turned toward this box, its narrow opening toward the mill. A
stroke on the tuning-fork emits vibrations which send tiny jets of air
against the sails of the mill, which accordingly rotate at a pace
proportionate to the loudness of the sound.
[Illustration: A beam of light deflects dust.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account