Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-jbqgn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-17T01:22:34.830Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

ART. 339 - To determine the Refractivity of Gases available only in Minute Quantities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

Get access

Summary

On a former occasion I described a refractometer capable of dealing with rather small quantities (12 c.c.) of gas. The optical tubes, one of which would contain the material under investigation and the other air, were of brass, 20 cm. in length and 6 mm. in bore, and were traversed by two pencils of light from the same origin, subsequently brought to interference in the observing telescope. For this purpose the object-glass of the telescope was provided with two parallel slits opposite the axes of the tubes. The image of the original slit, formed in the focal plane, was examined through a highpower cylindrical lens, constituting the eye-piece of the telescope, and exhibited the familiar pattern of interference bands, the position of which shifts with changes in the densities of the gases occupying the tubes. With this apparatus, and using pressures not exceeding one atmosphere, it was possible to compare refractivities (µ − 1) with a relative accuracy of about one-thousandth part.

In recent conversation my son, the Hon. R. J. Strutt, raised the question as to the minimum quantity of gas upon which a determination of refractivity could be made, having in mind such rare gases as the radium emanation. Towards answering it I have made a few experiments dealing merely with the optical side of the question.

Type
Chapter
Information
Scientific Papers , pp. 529 - 531
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009
First published in: 1912

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×