MATTER
ART. 29. _What is Matter?_--The law of Universal Attraction states that
"Every particle of matter attracts every other particle," etc., and the
question at once arises as to what is meant by the term Matter, what are
its properties and its constitution? Tait, in his _Natural Philosophy_,
gives the following as the definition: "Matter is that which can be
perceived by the senses, or is that which can be acted upon by, or can
exert force."
It has already been pointed out in Art. 13 that force is due to motion,
and that wherever we get motion of any kind or sort, there we get
energy, or what used to be termed force. The consideration of this phase
of the question will be more fully dealt with in the chapter on Energy
and Motion. Suffice to say, that all experience teaches us that force is
the outcome of motion.
Accepting this definition therefore of force, Tait's definition of
matter will read thus, if brought up to date: "Matter is that which can
be perceived by the senses, or is that which can be acted upon by
motion, or which can exert motion."
The common idea that matter can only be that which can be seen or
actually felt, is not large enough for a definition of Matter. There are
numbers of things in Nature which cannot either be seen or felt, yet
which are included in the term Matter. Let us take one or two examples.
Every one admits that nitrogen and oxygen are matter, yet I venture to
say that no one has actually seen or felt either of these gases. Both of
these gases are colourless and invisible, and are both tasteless. You
may open your mouth and inspire both gases, and yet if they are pure,
you cannot taste either of them. They are only matter, in the sense that
they appeal to our sense of force through the motion which they may
acquire.
Or again, take air, which is a mechanical mixture of several gases. Can
you see air? If it be free from vapour and smoke, air is invisible, and
on a clear day you may look for miles across the sea, or from the top of
a mountain, and yet not have your sight impeded in any way by the
atmosphere. Neither can it be felt by the sense of touch. Open and shut
your hand, and see if you can feel the air while you do so. In similar
ways it may be demonstrated that the air is tasteless. So that it is not
necessary for us to see, or feel, or taste, or even smell that which we
term Matter, in order for it to be included in that term. So long as
that which we term Matter is able to accept motion in any manner from
any body that is either moving, or in a state of vibration, and not only
accepts, but also transmits the vibratory, or the kinetic motion so
called of the moving body, then that which accepts the motion is
legitimately termed Matter.
It becomes perfectly clear, therefore, why air, aether, oxygen, and
hydrogen are termed Matter. Because they can be all acted upon by
motion, and after being so acted upon, they can exert motion upon some
other body. Heat is a form of motion, and when heat acts upon the air,
the latter is set in motion, and we have what are commonly known as
winds. It is unnecessary for me to prove that the motion of winds can be
transmitted to other matter, as we have numerous examples from our
observation and experience, in the case of windmills driven by the
motive power of the winds, and also balloons urged along by the same
cause; apart from the devastating effect produced in towns and country
by a hurricane or storm.
The point which I wish to emphasize is, that Matter, strictly defined,
is that which can be acted upon by motion, such as heat or electricity,
both being forms of motion, and which can exert the motion so derived
upon some other body.
Wherever, therefore, in the universe we find any body, whether it be
solid, liquid or gaseous, or any medium which can be acted upon by
motion, and after being so acted upon, can exert motion, that body or
medium may legitimately be included in the term Matter, although it may
be absolutely invisible to the eyes, or insensible to the sense of
touch, or taste, or smell. In the same work,[2] Tait states that in the
physical universe there are but two classes of things, "Matter and
Energy," and then goes on to give examples of both. He adds that a
stone, piece of brass, water, air, _aether_, are particles of matter,
while springs, water-power, wind, waves, heat and electric currents are
examples of energy associated with Matter.
Now I may add here, that within these two statements is to be found the
germ of the physical cause of Gravitation, together with the
satisfactory explanation of all phenomena that the universe reveals to
us, either by observation or by experiments. I purpose therefore, before
giving any detailed accounts of that medium which is to form the
physical basis for the cause of Gravitation, to look at the term Matter
in all its aspects, in order that we may get a right conception of the
universe, and of the part that Matter plays in the same.
[Footnote 2: Tait, _Natural Philosophy_.]
ART. 30. _Conservation of Matter._--The Theory of the Indestructibility
of Matter was first introduced by Lavoisier in 1789. This theory may be
thus summed up; that Matter which fills the universe is unchangeable in
quantity, so that the total quantity ever remains the same. Changes may
take place in regard to the state of the Matter, but the sum-total of
Matter throughout all the changes remains unaltered. Thus when we burn
coal, it is changed into carbonic acid by combination with the oxygen of
the atmosphere; when sugar is put into water, it simply passes from the
solid to the liquid condition. If a piece of iron or steel is allowed to
rust, the surface of the iron has entered into combination with the
oxygen and water of the atmosphere, and formed a new substance. So that
a body may change from solid to liquid, as for example from ice to
water, or from liquid to a gaseous condition, as from water to steam,
and probably from a gaseous condition to an aetherial condition as we
shall see later on, but the sum-total of Matter throughout all these
changes ever remains the same. Thus, throughout all the physical and
chemical changes that Matter may undergo in the universe, there is no
actual loss in weight or quantity. Throughout the whole realm of Nature
we do not find a single instance of the production of absolutely new
Matter. We may, and can produce new combinations of the forms of Matter.
The substance so formed by chemical combination may be different from
anything that has ever been seen or produced before, but the elements of
which it is formed must have existed in some other form before its
production.
This principle is the great underlying principle of all chemical
investigation and research, and may be proved at any time by means of
the scales or balance in the laboratory. Lavoisier first made the
experiment with the scales and proved this truth by actual
demonstration.
ART. 31. _Matter is Atomic._--The hypothesis that Matter is made up of
infinitely small particles which are termed atoms, was first proposed by
the Grecian philosophers. This hypothesis has gradually taken definite
shape, but it remained for Dalton to first put the hypothesis into a
connected form, and that form is now known as Dalton's Atomic Theory.
According to this theory, an atom of hydrogen was the lightest atom
known, but comparatively recent researches by Sir W. Crookes have shown
that there are possibly in existence minute particles which are even
lighter than an atom of hydrogen. Thus Sir W. Crookes has suggested that
there are certain particles associated with an atom of hydrogen which
are 700 times less in weight than the atom itself.
Professor J. J. Thompson has further suggested that if we could divide
an atom into a thousand parts, and could take one of those parts, we
should find that this corpuscle, as he has termed it, would be the
carrier of the charges in an electric current, so that it will be seen
that we are moving into the direction of the continuity of Matter. Let
us now look at the question as to what is meant by an atom more fully.
ART. 32. _What is an Atom?_--Clerk Maxwell's definition of an atom is,
"a body that cannot be cut in two." An atom is the smallest part of a
simple substance which can enter into combination with another element,
and is incapable of being further subdivided.
An atom of hydrogen is the smallest part of that particular gas which
can enter into combination with any other element, as oxygen, to form a
chemical compound as water, which is composed of two atoms of hydrogen
and one of oxygen.
Further, an atom of any kind or sort, retains its identity and remains
the same throughout all chemical combinations or physical changes which
it may undergo. By spectroscopic analysis, it has been ascertained, for
example, that hydrogen exists in the sun and stars, and the conclusion
is arrived at in connection therewith, that an atom of hydrogen in any
sun or star is the same as an atom of hydrogen in our atmosphere, or in
any of the compounds, as water, in which it is found. Thus it has come
to be received as an accepted fact, that every atom of any substance, as
oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen, whether they exist in the earth or sun,
in meteorites or the farthest stars or nebulae, wherever they are found,
possesses the same identity and the same physical properties.
Atoms attract one another, and this atomic attraction is known as
affinity. There is not the least possible doubt that affinity is a form
of universal attraction, except that the affinity of atoms is selective.
This affinity of atoms for each other gives rise to the combination of
atoms known as molecules and chemical compounds.
_Size of Atoms._--It has been computed by Lord Kelvin and others, that
an atom may be as small as 1/50,000,000 of an inch in diameter, so that
if 50,000,000 of them were put side by side, they would just measure one
inch in length. Atoms are not all of the same size or weight. An atom of
oxygen weighs 16 times as much as an atom of hydrogen. It has been
proved by Kirchhoff and Bunsen, that the 3/1,000,000 part of a
milligramme of sodium chloride is sufficient to give a yellow colour to
a gas-jet. Faraday prepared some sheets of gold, so thin that he
estimated they only measured the 1/100 part of the length of a
light-wave. We have to remember that each sheet of gold must have
contained molecules of gold composed of atoms. What must have been the
size of the atoms therefore of which the sheet was composed?
ART. 33. _The Atomic Theory._--The Atomic Theory was revived by Dalton
in 1804, in order to account for the fact that elements unite in certain
definite proportions. From that time to the present, the theory has
grown and developed until at the present time it is looked upon as a
well-established theory. It is, however, simply a theory, and from the
very nature of the hypothesis is incapable of proof. No one has ever
seen an atom of hydrogen or oxygen, or an atom of any solid, liquid, or
gaseous matter. The Atomic Theory suggests, therefore, that there is a
limit to the divisibility of matter. All chemical experiments lend
support to the theory, and by it we are able to give an intelligible and
easy method of expression to what would otherwise be difficult phenomena
to explain.
Ancient philosophers were divided on the question of the infinite
divisibility of matter. The Epicureans were of the opinion that matter
was incapable of infinite division, and that even if we were able to
make the smallest possible division, it would be impossible for us to
reach the smallest particle termed "Atom."
ART. 34. _Kinds of Atoms._--Various forms of atoms have been conceived
by philosophers from time to time, ranging from the Hard Atom, and the
simple point-centres of Boscovitch, until we come to the more modern
Vortex Atom of Lord Kelvin, or the Strain Atom of Dr. Larmor, which will
be looked at separately. Democritus conceived a hard atom as long ago as
500 B.C., while the notion of a hard atom is not absent from the works
of Newton himself. We find that Newton suggested that the particles of
air might be hard spherical bodies, at a distance from one another of
about nine times their diameter.
The hard atom, however, seems to be refuted by spectroscopic analysis,
which reveals to us in a manner that has never been revealed before,
something of the sizes and vibrations of atoms.
From the phenomenon of heat, which is simply matter in motion, we feel
compelled to accept the fact that an atom is not a hard particle, but
that it is something which is more closely allied to the Vortex Atom, or
the Strain Atom of Dr. Larmor.
_Boscovitch Atom._--According to Boscovitch's theory, each atom is
simply an indivisible point in space capable of motion, and possessing a
certain mass whereby a certain amount of energy is required to produce a
certain change of motion. In addition to this, any two atoms could
attract or repel each other with a force depending upon their distance
apart. The Law which regulates these forces for all distances greater
than 1/1000 of an inch is an attraction varying inversely as the square
of the distance, and a repulsion for less distances.
We have, therefore, to suppose that in place of the hard atom, there is
merely a geometrical point which can exert attractive or repulsive
forces to, or from, the central point. So far as external particles are
concerned, they would behave just the same as a hard atom would do. This
conception was largely entertained in recent times by Faraday. It is
more a mathematical explanation than a physical one, but has been found
convenient in explaining what takes place in the interior of bodies in
their three states, namely: solid, liquid, and gaseous.
_Lord Kelvin's Vortex Atom._--Another hypothesis which has been
suggested for the constitution of an atom, is that known as the Vortex
Atom, which received its birth at the hands of Lord Kelvin. The
underlying principle of this Vortex Atom is, that matter may be entirely
due to the rotating parts of a fundamental medium, the Aether, which
fills all space.
The properties of vortex motion were first mathematically calculated by
Helmholtz, but it was left to Sir Wm. Thompson, now Lord Kelvin, to give
a physical idea of the Vortex Atom.
Before entering further into the question of the Vortex Atom, it may be
as well to explain how vortex smoke rings may be made.
[Illustration: Fig: 3.]
All that is required is a wooden box, about one cubic foot in size, with
a round hole perforated in one of the sides, and the opposite side
covered with a piece of linen in place of the wooden side. The bottom of
the box should then be covered with some strong solution of ammonia, and
some hydrochloric acid poured into a saucer and put into the box. The
combination of these two will cause thick clouds to form in the box, and
if the linen is sharply tapped by the hand, a ring of this cloud will be
forced through the hole on the opposite side of the box. The ring so
formed will be circular in shape, and will go sailing through the room
in which it is made.
When the hole is circular, the rings will be found circular also, but if
the hole is square, then the rings will be irregular in shape. One
remarkable characteristic about these rings is, that when two of the rings
are travelling in the same straight line, the one behind will overtake the
front one, and while so doing, the diameter of the front one is enlarged,
while that of the one behind contracts. The front one will also travel
slower, while the one behind travels faster until it has caught up the
former, and then the latter, having contracted sufficiently, will pass
through the diameter of the former as illustrated in the figure. This
alternation of contraction and expansion is continued as long as the two
rings move in the same plane and until they are destroyed. When, however,
the two rings are moving in opposite directions, and meeting each other in
the same straight line, they will repel one another, instead of attracting
each other.
Their rate of progress is gradually reduced as they approach together,
and they begin to expand and enlarge, but they never touch each other.
Another peculiar feature about the rings consists in the fact, that the
central core of air in the ring remains the same all the time the ring
is in motion through the room, so that it has the same core of air at
the end of its journey as it had when it left the box.
As Lord Kelvin pointed out, if there were no friction of the air, the
ring once created would rotate for ever. If, therefore, there were such
a thing as a perfect fluid, and there were vortex rings in it, nothing
could destroy these rings when once they were created, and this is one
of the most striking suggestions with reference to the Vortex Atom
theory of matter. It remains to be seen whether in the universe we have
such a medium as a perfect fluid.
Sir Wm. Thompson has applied the Vortex Atom theory of matter to the
Aether, but from mathematical calculation he was unable to arrive at a
satisfactory conclusion as to the Aether being composed of vortex atoms.
Another remarkable property belonging to these rings, lies in the fact
that they cannot be cut in two. It will be found that when the knife is
brought near to them, they seem to recoil from the knife. In that sense,
it is literally an atom, a thing which cannot be cut in two.
The Vortex Atom has many recommendations in its favour. Many of the most
important properties of matter are possessed by it, as for example
indestructibility, elasticity, inertia, compressibility, and its
incapability to be cut in two. Further, it may be linked with another
ring, and so give the basis to the combining properties of atomic
weights.
The Vortex Atom theory is simple in character, as it does not postulate
any extravagant hypothesis, but makes use of the Aether as the common
basis for all matter, simply stating that this property of rotation may
be the basis of all that we call matter. We shall further consider the
relation of the Vortex Atom to matter, when we deal with the
constitution of matter and the unity of the universe.
ART. 35. _Elements of Matter._--As is well known, modern chemistry has
succeeded in reducing all the complex forms of matter in Nature into a
number of simple substances, which are called elements. Of these
elements about seventy are at present known, some of which, however, are
very rare. An element therefore is a simple substance which cannot be
decomposed by any known force or process, as heat or electricity, into
other elements.
There are, however, only about fourteen of these elements that enter
largely into the constitution of the earth, the most common being oxygen
and silicon. By the use of the spectroscope, it has been proved that
many of these elements, as for example oxygen, hydrogen, sodium and
calcium, exist in the sun and stars, as well as in the most distant
nebulae. Most of the elementary bodies are to be found in a gaseous form
as hydrogen, oxygen, fluorine and chlorine, though it has been found
possible to liquefy even these gases. Thus we see that matter may be
roughly divided into three states, viz. solid, liquid, or gaseous.
The condition in which the substance is found depends upon its
temperature and pressure. An example of matter in its three stages is
best shown in the case of water, where in the solid condition we have it
as ice, in the liquid condition as water, and in the gaseous condition
as steam.
By recent researches it has been found possible to liquefy gases at a
very low temperature and increased pressure, with the result that now
nearly all known gases as hydrogen, oxygen, and carbonic acid are to be
obtained in liquid form. By still more recent experiments made by
Professor Dewar, it has even become possible to liquefy the air we
breathe, with the result that at a temperature of about 270 degrees
below freezing-point and at an increased pressure, the otherwise
invisible and gaseous air may be changed into a liquid, and poured out
from one vessel into another in the same way that water can be poured
out. A vessel, however, at the ordinary temperature into which such
liquid air is poured, would be so hot compared with the coldness of the
liquid air, that as soon as the exceedingly cold liquid air came into
contact with the vessel, the comparatively hot vessel would make the
liquid air to boil.
ART. 36. _Three Divisions of Matter._--Matter has been divided into
three divisions, viz. solid, liquid, and gaseous. These divisions are
each known by characteristic qualities, which separate the one division
from another. At the same time, it is possible for matter to pass from
one division into another, as for example in the case of water, which
may exist in solid, liquid, and gaseous form. In view of the recent
researches of Sir. Wm. Crookes and Professor J. J. Thompson, it is very
probable that before long we shall have to add a fourth division to
matter, which we should have to call ultra-gaseous form, or it may
possibly be the aetherial form. If it should prove to be true that
Aether is matter, and possesses the essential qualities of matter as
suggested by Lord Kelvin, then certainly we shall have reached the
boundary of another great division of matter, and our conception of the
divisions of matter will have to be enlarged to take in that form, so
that matter would then be divided into four great divisions, viz. solid,
liquid, gaseous, and aetherial.
We will now consider the three groups as at present recognized.
_Solid._--Examples of solid bodies are common and familiar, and are
typified by such things as iron, silver, copper, and lead. The chief
characteristic of this condition of matter is that its condition or
state is fixed, and cannot be altered without the expenditure of heat or
electricity or some other form of energy.
All solid elementary substances, with the exception of carbon, can be
melted or reduced to a molten condition, although some of them require a
very high temperature to effect this reduction, as, for example,
platinum. When a still higher temperature is applied, the metals may be
vaporized, or reduced from a molten state to that of a vaporous
condition. In the case of solids, the atoms have not a free path in
which to move. It must not be thought, however, that the atoms of a
solid are motionless, as there is nothing absolutely motionless in the
universe. In the case of the solid, the molecules which compose it,
preserve their relative position and are linked together in relation to
each other by the force of Cohesion.
_Liquid._--When matter is in a liquid condition, as, for example, water
and oil, the condition of its molecules are not so fixed and stable as
they are in the solid state. The molecules can move freely about one
another, and their freedom is increased compared with their condition
when in the solid state.
As already indicated, the reduction of a solid body to a liquid or
molten state may be effected by heat. When heat is applied to a solid
body, several results follow, each of which is the outcome of the other.
1. There is an increase of temperature which is due to the increased
energy of the molecules, through the added heat.
2. There is an enlargement of the volume or size of the body, and if the
addition of heat be continued, the molecular forces which hold the
molecules together are broken down, and then the molecules, loosened
from those forces which in the solid state have bound them together,
begin to move about with greater freedom, and thus give rise to the
molten condition of metals, or liquid condition of water. Thus, it is
the heat which has set the atoms which compose the molecules in motion.
The atoms of the solid have absorbed the heat, and the heat which has
thus been absorbed has imparted vibratory energy to the atoms, which
they did not possess before. Now when a substance is in the liquid
state, the atoms of that substance have not only a vibratory motion, but
have also a translatory motion, so that they can move in and out among
one another. This is proved by the phenomenon of diffusion, where we
have the case of two different-coloured liquids, for example,
intermingling with each other, which is conclusive evidence of the
translatory motion of the atoms in liquids.
_Gaseous._--The third state in which matter is found is the gaseous
state. In this condition, the particles of matter which form the gas
have the greatest possible freedom of movement, and are able to move
about with inconceivable velocity. There is abundant evidence to prove
that gases consist of particles of matter which are perfectly free, and
are able to fly about in all directions. The simplest proof is obtained
by mixing two gases together, as, for example, when any gaseous
substance is allowed to mix with the air of a room, when we find that
the particular gas soon mixes itself thoroughly with all the air in the
room. This process of mixing is known as Diffusion, and the lighter a
gas is, the more quickly does it diffuse itself. The rate of movement of
the various particles is varied, by reason of the encounters which each
particle undergoes from time to time. Through experiments made by Joule,
he arrived at the conclusion that particles of hydrogen attained a
velocity of 6055 feet per second at 0° C., which is a velocity much
greater than that of a cannon-ball. In spite of the enormous velocity
with which a particle of hydrogen would move, there are such a large
number of particles in a single cubic inch of space, that no one
particle has an absolutely free path from the one side of the enclosed
space to the other. To this constant movement of the individual
particles is due the elasticity or pressure of gases. The outward
pressure which they exert on any body which encloses the gas is caused
by the total effect of the impact of the particles, and is proportional
to the sum of their masses multiplied into the square of their
velocities. If we halve the enclosed space, then we should double the
number of impacts in a given time, so that the number of impacts is
inversely as the volume of the gas. This is equivalent to the statement,
that the pressure of a gas varies inversely as its volume, which is
Boyle and Marriotte's Law.
ART. 37. _Matter is Gravitative._--If there is one property which is
essentially characteristic to all matter, it is that all matter is
gravitative. To this rule there is no exception, as the universal Law of
Attraction states that "every particle of matter attracts every other
particle." Thus, wherever in the whole universe there is a particle of
matter of any kind or sort, whether such matter be solid, liquid, or
gaseous, there the force of attraction will be exerted with a force
proportionate to the mass of the particle, and inversely as the square
of the distance between the attracted particles.
Gravitation, then, is a property which is essentially inherent in
matter, and any substance which is termed matter, or fulfils the
conditions that govern matter, must be gravitative, whatever other
property it may, or may not, possess. Unless this be so, we should have
a violation of the universal Law of Gravitation, which would cease at
once to be a universal law, for instead of reading "every particle of
matter attracts every other particle," we should have to say that "some
particles of matter attract some other particles," which would be a
violation of that universal law which, through the genius of Newton, has
given to the universe an unity from the philosophical standpoint that it
did not possess before.
Some matter may, or may not be elastic; it may, or may not be solid, or
liquid, or gaseous; but there is this fact regarding matter which is
absolutely undeniable, and that is, "All matter is gravitative."
That this is true of each and all kinds of matter has been proved by
direct experiment times without number, and the constant application of
the law to all forms of matter is a fact observable from the phenomena
incidental to every-day life. Astronomical observation teaches us also,
that all stars, suns, planets, satellites, and comets are subject to
this great Law of Gravitation, as indeed they must be if they are
composed of matter. That they are all composed of exactly similar
elements of which the earth is composed, has been proved again and again
by spectroscopic analysis, which teaches that hydrogen, iron, and
calcium, etc., are to be found in distant stars and nebulae, as they are
equally to be found in the composition of the earth. Thus throughout the
wide universe so far as observation and experiment can teach us, we
learn that without any exception, everything that is termed matter is
subject to this universal Law of Gravitation.
ART. 38. _Matter possesses Density._--Density is that property of matter
which decides the weight of a body per unit of volume.
The density of any substance may be shown in several ways. It may
denote, first of all, the number of molecules in a given body. Let us
take as an illustration, the case of air being forced into a vessel of a
given size, say one cubic foot capacity. We will suppose that in such a
vessel there are 1,000,000 molecules. If we pump in a quantity of air
equal to the amount it contained at first, then it is obvious that we
have doubled the number of molecules in the same vessel, and therefore
we say we have doubled the density. Not only so, but the weight of the
air in the vessel will have been doubled. Looked at from this
standpoint, density means the number of molecules in unit volume such as
a cubic inch, or cubic centimetre.
Again, as has already been shown in Art. 35, the different elements have
different atomic weights. Thus an atom of carbon weighs twelve times as
much as an atom of hydrogen, that is to say, there are twelve times as
much matter by weight in an atom of carbon as there is in an atom of
hydrogen, so that it would take twelve times as many hydrogen atoms to
weigh a pound as compared with the number of atoms of carbon. This is
only another way of stating that carbon has twelve times the density of
hydrogen. If we compare lead and silver with hydrogen in the same way,
we find that the density is 206 times and 107 times greater than that of
hydrogen.
Thus, it may be seen, that all matter possesses density, and that that
density depends partly upon its atomic constitution. If the molecule of
matter is composed of atoms whose atomic weights are very large compared
with that of hydrogen, as iron, silver, lead and gold, then the
molecules will have a much greater density, than a molecule formed of
oxygen and hydrogen, _i. e._ water. This property of the density of
matter plays a most important part in the transmission of any kind of
wave-motion.
ART. 39. _Matter possesses Elasticity._--Matter possesses elasticity.
Elasticity is that property of matter which enables all bodies to resume
their original shape, when the pressure which has caused the alteration
of shape has been removed.
For example, suppose an ivory ball be dropped upon a marble table, or
any other hard surface. It will then rebound, and rise almost to the
same height from which it was dropped. If the surface upon which it fell
was first covered with blacklead, a circular spot of lead will be found
on the ivory ball. From this fact, we arrive at the conclusion that when
the ball came into contact with the table, at the moment of contact it
was flattened, and then owing to its elasticity it rebounded into the
air again.
Now the measure of the elasticity of a body is proportionate to the
velocity of the wave-motion which it can transmit. A good illustration
of the transmission of wave-motion may be shown with a number of ivory
bagatelle or billiard balls. If eight or more of these be put in a row,
all touching each other, and a single ball be placed about an inch or so
away from the others in a straight line with them, then when the single
ball is struck with a cue against the other eight, the motion of the
single ball is transmitted by each one of the eight successively with
such rapidity, that the end ball would be set in motion in a quicker
time than a single ball would take to reach the end ball, if it had been
free to move along without encountering any opposition.
It is a fact capable of demonstration, that the smaller the particle of
matter, the greater will be its vibratory motion. Thus the particles of
air are very, very small, and consequently air is found to be very
elastic, and allows sound to be transmitted through it with
comparatively great velocity, some sounds travelling at the rate of over
1000 feet per second.
A most important factor in determining the propagation of any
wave-motion, through a gas or solid, is the relationship of the
elasticity of the gas or solid to its density. Suffice to say, that the
velocity of any wave-motion is determined by the relation of the
elasticity to the density. For example, sound, which is a wave-motion of
the air, can not only be transmitted through gaseous bodies as air, but
also through liquids and solids. Sound travels faster through solids
than through liquids, and faster through liquids than through gases. In
liquids, the relation of the elasticity to density is greater than in
air, and in solids the relation is greater still. Therefore sound
travels much faster in liquids than in gases, and faster in solids than
in liquids.
This is the reason why a train can be heard coming if the ear is put to
the railway-line, when no indication of its approach is given to the ear
by the atmosphere. Some examples of the velocities of sound through
different substances are as follows--
Gases O. C. Liquids. Solids.
FEET FEET FEET
Air 1090 per sec. Water 4708 per sec. (8° C.). Gold 5717 per sec.
Oxygen 1040 " " Alcohol 4218 " " (20° C.). Silver 8553 " "
ART. 40. _Matter possesses Inertia._--Inertia is that property of
matter, by which matter cannot of itself alter, or change its state of
motion, or of rest.
Newton's first law of motion states that a body at rest remains at rest
until some force or motion acts upon it. If a stone be dropped from a
balloon, the stone does not fall because of any property which it
possesses, but because the force of gravity acts upon it. If it were
possible to eliminate this force of gravity, then if there were no other
force which could act upon the stone, it would remain suspended in
space.
The inertia of a body is equal to the mass of that body, or the amount
of matter in the body as measured by gravity, so that if a body is
halved, its inertia will be halved also, and if doubled, its inertia
will be doubled also. As the inertia of matter opposes all kinds of
motion, the amount of force required to overcome the inertia of a body
is proportionate to its mass. So that if the mass of a body is doubled,
then twice the force would be required to move it, while if the body
were halved, half the force would suffice to do it.
Inertia is possessed quite as much by a moving body as a body at rest.
The definition given points this out, as it states that matter cannot of
itself change its state of motion. If a body therefore is in motion, it
requires a certain amount of resistance to bring the body to a state of
rest, or the loss of an equal amount of energy, by friction or
otherwise, equal to the quantity which it absorbed in order for it to be
set in motion.
We get numerous examples of this property of the inertia of bodies in
our daily experience. Many of the accidents that befall people in
various ways are due to this property of the inertia of matter. A
cyclist is riding a machine down-hill, and loses control over his
machine, with the result that he runs into a wall, and is killed. Now
what has happened? The cyclist has participated in the motion of the
machine, with the result that when the machine has been suddenly
stopped, the body has been thrown forward owing to the momentum it had
acquired.
We are constantly being affected by the property of inertia of matter,
in tram and train and bus. Whenever any of these are suddenly stopped,
or suddenly started, we are thrown either backward or forward, owing to
the body either not having acquired the motion of the train, or, having
acquired it, is unable to lose its motion as quickly as the train, and
is therefore thrown forward.