Having passed under examination the quantity of heat produced by the
contraction and condensation of the solar nebula into a globe solid
to the centre, we have now to do the same for the case of its being a
hollow sphere, and we may say that our work has already almost come
to an end; for we have only to vary to a small extent what we have
just set forth. Beginning then as before, with one particle of matter
falling, or rather being attracted, from the surface of a hollow-sphere
nebula, we find that it would not reach the centre at all, but would
be stopped by another drawn out from the centre by its own attraction,
which would meet it--say for brevity--half-way between the starting
points of the two, each bringing along with it its own heat-producing
power and giving it out to its opponent, there being nothing else to
give it to; so that if each brought with it _x_ heat-power they would
have 2_x_ heat-power between them, just as we have said would happen
in the first case, and the heat of each one of them would consequently
be doubled. In this case we have to observe, though it is really
unnecessary, that as yet we have spoken of attraction as acting in one
direction only, that is, in doing only the work of gravitation; so we
have still to consider the voyage of two particles of matter proceeding
from the surface and meeting two coming from the centre, and have only
to say that their mutual collisions caused by lateral attraction on the
way, would enable them to bring along with them certain quantities of
heat produced by these collisions, which would be over and above what
they acquired in their straight-line imaginary voyage.
If any one doubts that additional heat would be produced by this
lateral attraction and bombarding, let him take two hammers and
strike the one against the other as rapidly as he can for some time,
and he will be able, by touch, to convince himself that heat can be
produced by this lateral attraction as well as by the _attraction of
gravitation_; and, if he could measure it afterwards, he would find
that if he dropped the hammers on the ground, they would not give out
any of that heat but only what they had derived from gravitation in
falling from his hands to the ground, unless the ground was colder
than they, and if the ground was not colder, the heat it had would be
augmented from this source also.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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