Book contents
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- ART. 142 On the Maintenance of Vibrations by Forces of Double Frequency, and on the Propagation of Waves through a Medium endowed with a Periodic Structure
- ART. 143 On the Existence of Reflection when the Relative Refractive Index is Unity
- ART. 144 On the Stability or Instability of Certain Fluid Motions, II
- ART. 145 Diffraction of Sound
- ART. 146 On the Relative Densities of Hydrogen and Oxygen. (Preliminary Notice)
- ART. 147 On Point-, Line-, and Plane-Sources of Sound
- ART. 148 Wave Theory of Light
- ART. 149 On the Reflection of Light at a Twin Plane of a Crystal
- ART. 150 On the Remarkable Phenomenon of Crystalline Reflexion described by Prof. Stokes
- ART. 151 Is the Velocity of Light in an Electrolytic Liquid influenced by an Electric Current in the Direction of Propagation?
- ART. 152 On the Bending and Vibration of Thin Elastic Shells, especially of Cylindrical Form
- ART. 153 On the Composition of Water
- ART. 154 The History of the Doctrine of Radiant Energy
- ART. 155 Note on the Free Vibrations of an Infinitely Long Cylindrical Shell
- ART. 156 On the Free Vibrations of an Infinite Plate of Homogeneous Isotropic Elastic Matter
- ART. 157 On the Limit to Interference when Light is Radiated from Moving Molecules
- ART. 158 Iridescent Crystals
- ART. 159 The Sailing Flight of the Albatross
- ART. 160 On the Character of the Complete Radiation at a Given Temperature
- ART. 161 On the Visibility of Faint Interference-Bands
- ART. 162 On the Uniform Deformation in Two Dimensions of a Cylindrical Shell of Finite Thickness, with Application to the General Theory of Deformation of Thin Shells
- ART. 163 On Achromatic Interference-Bands
- ART. 164 On Bells
- ART. 165 The Clark Standard Cell
- ART. 166 On the Vibrations of an Atmosphere
- ART. 167 On the Tension of Recently Formed Liquid Surfaces
- ART. 168 Measurements of the Amount of Oil Necessary in Order to Check the Motions of Camphor upon Water
- ART. 169 Foam
- ART. 170 On the Superficial Viscosity of Water
- ART. 171 On Huygens's Gearing in Illustration of the Induction of Electric Currents
- ART. 172 The Bourdon Gauge
- ART. 173 On Defective Colour Vision
- ART. 174 Instantaneous Photographs of Water Jets
- ART. 175 On the Tension of Water Surfaces, Clean and Contaminated, Investigated by the Method of Ripples
- ART. 176 On the Theory of Surface Forces
- ART. 177 Clerk-Maxwell's Papers
- ART. 178 On Pin-Hole Photography
- ART. 179 Some Applications of Photography
- ART. 180 On the Sensitiveness of the Bridge Method in its Application to Periodic Electric Currents
- ART. 181 On Van der Waals' Treatment of Laplace's Pressure in the Virial Equation: Letters to Prof. Tait
- ART. 182 On the Virial of a System of Hard Colliding Bodies
- ART. 183 Dynamical Problems Illustration of the Theory of Gases
- ART. 184 Experiments in Aërodynamics. [Review of Langley's]
- ART. 185 On Reflexion from Liquid Surfaces in the Neighbourhood of the Polarizing Angle
- ART. 186 On the Theory of Surface Forces. II. Compressible Fluids
- ART. 187 On the Relative Densities of Hydrogen and Oxygen. II
- ART. 188 Superheated Steam
- ART. 189 Aberration
- ART. 190 Remarks on Maxwell's Investigation respecting Boltzmann's Theorem
- ART. 191 On the Physics of Media that are composed of Free and Perfectly Elastic Molecules in a State of Motion. [Introduction to Waterston's Memoir]
- ART. 192 Experiments upon Surface-Films
- ART. 193 On the Theory of Surface Forces. III.—Effect of Slight Contaminations
- ART. 194 On the Question of the Stability of the Flow of Fluids
- ART. 195 On the Instability of a Cylinder of Viscous Liquid under Capillary Force
- ART. 196 On the Instability of Cylindrical Fluid Surfaces
- Plate section
ART. 187 - On the Relative Densities of Hydrogen and Oxygen. II
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2011
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- ART. 142 On the Maintenance of Vibrations by Forces of Double Frequency, and on the Propagation of Waves through a Medium endowed with a Periodic Structure
- ART. 143 On the Existence of Reflection when the Relative Refractive Index is Unity
- ART. 144 On the Stability or Instability of Certain Fluid Motions, II
- ART. 145 Diffraction of Sound
- ART. 146 On the Relative Densities of Hydrogen and Oxygen. (Preliminary Notice)
- ART. 147 On Point-, Line-, and Plane-Sources of Sound
- ART. 148 Wave Theory of Light
- ART. 149 On the Reflection of Light at a Twin Plane of a Crystal
- ART. 150 On the Remarkable Phenomenon of Crystalline Reflexion described by Prof. Stokes
- ART. 151 Is the Velocity of Light in an Electrolytic Liquid influenced by an Electric Current in the Direction of Propagation?
- ART. 152 On the Bending and Vibration of Thin Elastic Shells, especially of Cylindrical Form
- ART. 153 On the Composition of Water
- ART. 154 The History of the Doctrine of Radiant Energy
- ART. 155 Note on the Free Vibrations of an Infinitely Long Cylindrical Shell
- ART. 156 On the Free Vibrations of an Infinite Plate of Homogeneous Isotropic Elastic Matter
- ART. 157 On the Limit to Interference when Light is Radiated from Moving Molecules
- ART. 158 Iridescent Crystals
- ART. 159 The Sailing Flight of the Albatross
- ART. 160 On the Character of the Complete Radiation at a Given Temperature
- ART. 161 On the Visibility of Faint Interference-Bands
- ART. 162 On the Uniform Deformation in Two Dimensions of a Cylindrical Shell of Finite Thickness, with Application to the General Theory of Deformation of Thin Shells
- ART. 163 On Achromatic Interference-Bands
- ART. 164 On Bells
- ART. 165 The Clark Standard Cell
- ART. 166 On the Vibrations of an Atmosphere
- ART. 167 On the Tension of Recently Formed Liquid Surfaces
- ART. 168 Measurements of the Amount of Oil Necessary in Order to Check the Motions of Camphor upon Water
- ART. 169 Foam
- ART. 170 On the Superficial Viscosity of Water
- ART. 171 On Huygens's Gearing in Illustration of the Induction of Electric Currents
- ART. 172 The Bourdon Gauge
- ART. 173 On Defective Colour Vision
- ART. 174 Instantaneous Photographs of Water Jets
- ART. 175 On the Tension of Water Surfaces, Clean and Contaminated, Investigated by the Method of Ripples
- ART. 176 On the Theory of Surface Forces
- ART. 177 Clerk-Maxwell's Papers
- ART. 178 On Pin-Hole Photography
- ART. 179 Some Applications of Photography
- ART. 180 On the Sensitiveness of the Bridge Method in its Application to Periodic Electric Currents
- ART. 181 On Van der Waals' Treatment of Laplace's Pressure in the Virial Equation: Letters to Prof. Tait
- ART. 182 On the Virial of a System of Hard Colliding Bodies
- ART. 183 Dynamical Problems Illustration of the Theory of Gases
- ART. 184 Experiments in Aërodynamics. [Review of Langley's]
- ART. 185 On Reflexion from Liquid Surfaces in the Neighbourhood of the Polarizing Angle
- ART. 186 On the Theory of Surface Forces. II. Compressible Fluids
- ART. 187 On the Relative Densities of Hydrogen and Oxygen. II
- ART. 188 Superheated Steam
- ART. 189 Aberration
- ART. 190 Remarks on Maxwell's Investigation respecting Boltzmann's Theorem
- ART. 191 On the Physics of Media that are composed of Free and Perfectly Elastic Molecules in a State of Motion. [Introduction to Waterston's Memoir]
- ART. 192 Experiments upon Surface-Films
- ART. 193 On the Theory of Surface Forces. III.—Effect of Slight Contaminations
- ART. 194 On the Question of the Stability of the Flow of Fluids
- ART. 195 On the Instability of a Cylinder of Viscous Liquid under Capillary Force
- ART. 196 On the Instability of Cylindrical Fluid Surfaces
- Plate section
Summary
In a preliminary notice upon this subject, I explained the procedure by which I found as the ratio of densities 15·884. The hydrogen was prepared from zinc and sulphuric, or from zinc and hydrochloric, acid, and was liberated upon a platinum plate, the generator being in fact a Smee cell, enclosed in a vessel capable of sustaining a vacuum, and set in action by closing the electric circuit at an external contact. The hydrogen thus prepared was purified by corrosive sublimate and potash, and desiccated by passage through a long tube packed with phosphoric anhydride. The oxygen was from chlorate of potash, or from mixed chlorates of potash and soda.
In a subsequent paper on the “Composition of Water,” I attacked the problem by a direct synthesis of water from weighed quantities of the two component gases. The ratio of atomic weights thus obtained was 15·89.
At the time when these researches were commenced, the latest work bearing upon the subject dated from 1845, and the number then accepted was 15·96. There was, however, nothing to show that the true ratio really deviated from the 16 : 1 of Prout's law, and the main object of my work was to ascertain whether or not such deviation existed. About the year 1888, however, a revival of interest in this question manifested itself, especially in the United States, and several results of importance have been published.
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- Scientific Papers , pp. 524 - 537Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009First published in: 1902