Theory, corpuscular

To further elaborate on this last point, it should be noted that once corpuscular theory is introduced it should provide students with meaningful descriptions, explanations and predictions of macroscopic phenomena and relationships in terms of sub-microscopic entities such as atoms, molecules and electrons. But, alas, according to the foram of experts in chemical education, it does not (Van Berkel et al., 2000). Not only students, but also teachers as well as textbook writers make mistakes with regard to the macro/sub-micro/symbolic levels. Here are some examples mentioned by the international and Dutch fomm. 

The corpnscnlar theory does provide explanations for phenomena but how far are these internalised by stndents Many continue to reason in macroscopic terms about events, even after being tanght corpuscular theory. 

Corpuscular theory offers, for that matter, only a very limited basis for the explanation of macroscopic phenomena (...) sometimes it looks as if 1,2-dichloroethane is C2H4C12 (...) . 

Fig. 2.3 The structure of Dominant Sehool Chemistry consists of a combination of a specific substantive substructure based on corpuscular theory, a specific philosophical substructure educational positivism, and a specific pedagogical substructure intended to provide the initiatory and preparatory training of future chemists...

It is important to imderstand why confusing messages occur. When, for example, the philosophical and pedagogical snbstracture change without reconsidering the content or at least the focns on corpuscular theory, an inconsistency between the snbstractmes of school chemistry occurs. To quote Schwab again (Schwab, 1978, p. 242),... 

Boyle (1661) attempted to provide a more definite concept and attributed the sour taste of acids to sharp-edged acid particles. Lemery, another supporter of the corpuscular theory of chemistry, had similar views and considered that acid-base reactions were the result of the penetration of sharp acid particles into porous bases (Walden, 1929 Finston Rychtman, 1982). However, the first widely accepted theory was that of Lavoisier who in 1 111 pronounced that oxygen was the universal acidifying principle (Crosland, 1973 Walden, 1929 Day Selbin, 1969 Finston Rychtman, 1982). An acid was defined as a compound of oxygen with a non-metal. 

Newman, William Royall. "Experimental corpuscular theory in Aristotelian alchemy Geber to Sennert." In Late medieval and early modern corpuscular matter... 

The conversion came at a time when the Newtonian program of explanation had lost ground in several fields of laboratory studies, including physical optics, electricity, and heat. Intellectually, this loss of influence was epitomized by the publication in 1826 of Augustin Fresnel s 1819 prize memoir on the diffraction of light, in which he abandoned the Newtonian corpuscular theory. Institutionally, the decline was registered by the 1822 election of Fourier to the office of permanent secretary of the Academy of Sciences, despite the opposition of Laplace, who along with Berthollet had earlier personified the Newtonian tradition in France.37... 

Ether chemistry was not unheard of in the nineteenth century, and it provided a palatable escape for those uncomfortable with simple corpuscular theories. Thus, Berthelot s chemical mechanics was consistent with ether mechanics ... 

A primary text for seminar discussion was J. J. Thomson s Corpuscular Theory of Matter. 119... 

Finko DI (1994) Etiopathogenesis of malignant tumors red corpuscular theory of cancer origination. Joint-Stock Company AKME, Moscow, p 176... 

William B. Jensen begins the volume with an overview of scientific atomic theories from the 17 through 20 centuries. He mentions ancient atomism, but he begins in earnest analyzing corpuscular theories of matter proposed or entertained by natural philosophers in the 17 century. He describes the dominant flavors of atomic notions over fom centuries, from the mechanical through the dynamical, gravimetric, and kinetic, to the electrical. Jensen is Oesper Professor of Chemical Education and History of Chemistry at the University of Cincirmati and was the foimding editor of the Bulletin for the History of Chemistry. 

It is well known that Robert Boyle was the major proponent of the apphcation of particulate or corpuscular theories to chemical phenomena in the 17th-centuiy, though neither he nor his contemporaries were able to develop a specific form of the theoiy which could be meaningfully related to quantitative chemical data. As a consequence, the trae impact of mechanical corpuscularism on 17th-centuiy chemistry was largely indirect and is best illustrated, as J. E. Marsh observed many years ago, in terms of its application to the acid-alkali theoiy of salt formation. 

Both Boyle and Mayow were disciples of the mechanical or corpuscular theory of matter. Boyle seems to have been particularly influenced by Gassendi, though familiar also with Descartes theory, while Mayow was a disciple of Descartes. While Gassendi, 1592-1658, was a follower of... 

In quantum-mechanical application the characteristic eigenvectors of the Schrodinger equation are called wave functions. The casual conclusion that matrix mechanics is a corpuscular theory of matter, and therefore distinct from wave mechanics, although of historical interest, persists even today. The... 

For the hydrogen nucleus the wave length is therefore smaller by a factor V1850 and is equal to 0.08 A. For this nucleus and a fortiori for heavier nuclei the characteristic wave length is thus very much smaller than the interatomic distances. In optics this corresponds to the domain of geometrical optics with rectilinear propagation according to Newton s corpuscular theory. 

Thomson, J.J. The Corpuscular Theory of Matter. Charles Scribner s Sons, New York. 1907. 

I read a bit more about Boyle s corpuscular theory of matter. Boyle used his vacuum pump to test the possibility that there is a substance called ether that fills up the spaces between corpuscles of air, of the type described by M. Descartes... 

Dalton shared the general views of his contemporaries regarding the constitution of matter. He believed in the solid particles of Newton, i.e. in the corpuscular theory. He also believed in the existence of individual gases, particularly those which were discovered by Priestley, Cavendish, Black, and others. He believed in the law of definite proportions by weight, and in the law of multiple proportions (see page 201), discovered by Dalton himself, both of which emphasized the general idea of combination by units. 

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