Atoms, electric nature

Atomic velocity distribution, 130,131 Atomic volume, 94, 98 alkali metals, 94 halogens, 97 inert gases, 91 third-row elements, 101 Atomic weight, 33 table, inside back cover Atoms, 21 conservation of, 40 electrical nature of, 236 measuring dimensions of, 245 Avogadro, Amadeo hypothesis, 25, 52 hypothesis and kinetic theory, 58 law, 25 number, 33 Azo dyes, 344... 

Edison storage battery, 406 Einstein, Albert, 121 Einsteinium, oxidation number, 414 Elastic collision, 6 Electrical nature of atoms, 236 Electrical phenomena, 74 Electrical properties of condensed phases, 78... 

Electrochemistry deals with the nature of electrolytes and with the processes at electrodes which are in contact with electrolytes. Generally speaking chemistry is electrochemistry as interactions in the atomic scale are of electrical nature. 

The orbital bonding nature within carbon nanotubes creates unique electrical properties within a non-metallic molecule, which is a result of the delocalization of the -electron donated by each atom. Electrical conductivity can take place along the entire nanotube due to the freedom of -electron flow, making possible the design of circuits of extremely low nanometer diameter. 

Faraday was thus able to enunciate his two laws of electrolysis. His second law implied that both matter and electricity were atomic in nature. Faraday was deeply opposed to atomism, especially the theory proposed by John Dalton, and indeed held a very antimaterialist view. It was clear to Faraday, however, that the law of definite proportions also required some sort of atomic theory. What Faraday proposed in the 1840s was that matter was perceived where fines of force met at a particular point in space. A direct experimental outcome of this radical theory was Faraday s discovery in 1845 of the magneto-optical effect and diamagnetism. The field theory that Faraday developed from this was able to solve a number of problems in physics that were not amenable to conventional approaches. This was one reason why field theory was taken up quite quickly by elite natural philosophers such as William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) and James Clerk Maxwell. 

In the following year, 1905, Werner published his great book on coordination chemistry, and this had a powerful influence on Lewis. Werner proposed that in coordination compounds, atoms or groups of atoms surrounded a central atom to form an electrically charged ion or a neutral compound, and the geometrical or structural theory seemed to fit very nicely with Lewis s ideas. All that was needed (and it was a big all ) was a clearer picture of the electrical nature of atoms. 

He went on to modify his views regarding the electrical nature of chemical heat. Previously he had believed that the heat evolved in chemical reactions was due to the electrical current involved in the chemical process. Instead he suggested that heat was the result of the "mechanical force expended by the atoms in falling towards one another." (32) He believed that his propositions would... 

The true nature of electrolytic processes in electrochemistry took many years to be understood. An historical outline of the development of these ideas from the pre-Faraday period until the present time is given. One of the matters of outstanding importance for chemistry and electrochemistry was the eventual realization that electricity itself is "atomic in nature, with the electron as the natural unit of electric charge. Not until this concept was established experimentally, and understood in its theoretical ramifications, was it possible for the microscopic basis of electrolytic processes to be established, and developed more quantitatively with the correct qualitative basis. The final and correct perception of the nature of these processes provided one of the important bases for recognition of the electrical nature of matter itself and the foundations of physical chemistry. 

The harmony which this theory of the definite evolution and the equivalent definite action of electricity introduces into the associated theories of definite proportions and electro-chemical affinity, is very great. According to it, the equivalent weights of bodies are simply those quantities of them which contain equal quantities of electricity, or have naturally equal electric powers it being the ELECTRICITY which determines the equivalent number, because it determines the combining force. Or, if we adopt the atomic theory or phraseology, then the atoms of bodies which are equivalents to each other in their ordinary chemical action, have equal quantities of electricity naturally associated with them."... 

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