Part 4 (1/2)

Brownian Movements.

Questions

1. What is the molecular (kinetic) theory of gases?

2. What three kinds of evidence help to confirm the theory?

3. What have you seen that seems to show that a gas consists of molecules in motion?

4. How many meters long is a 10-ft. pole?

5. A 50-kg. boy weighs how many pounds?

6. What are three advantages of the metric system?

7. What will 12 qts. of milk cost at 8 cents a liter?

8. A cube 1 meter each way will contain how many cubic centimeters? How many liters? What will a cubic meter of water weigh?

(2) MOLECULAR MOTION IN LIQUIDS

=18. Diffusion of Liquids.=--From the evidence given in Arts. 14-17, (a) of diffusion of odors, (b) of the continued _expansion_ of air in the air pump, and (c) of the pressure exerted by a gas in all directions, one may realize without difficulty that a _gas consists of small particles in rapid motion_. Let us now consider some of the evidence of molecular motion in liquids. If a little vinegar is placed in a pail of water, all of the water will soon taste sour. A lump of sugar in a cup of tea will sweeten the entire contents. This action is somewhat similar to the diffusion of gases but it takes place much more slowly. It is therefore believed that the motion of liquid molecules is much slower than that of gas molecules.

Again, if a dish of water is left standing in the open air in fine weather, within a few days the dish will become dry though no one has taken anything from it. We say the water has _evaporated_. What was liquid is now _vapor_. If we were to observe carefully any dish of water we would find that it continually loses weight on dry days. That is, there is a constant movement of the molecules of water into the air.

This movement of the molecules is explained as follows. There appear to be in the dish of water some molecules that by moving back and forth acquire a greater velocity than their neighbors; when these reach the surface of the liquid, some vibration or movement sends them flying into the air above. They are now vapor or gas molecules, flying, striking, and rebounding like the air molecules. Sometimes on rebounding, the water molecules get back into the water again. This is especially apt to happen when the air is damp, _i.e._, when it contains many water molecules. Sometimes the air over a dish becomes _saturated_, as in the upper part of a corked bottle containing water. Although molecules are continually leaving the surface of the water they cannot escape from the bottle, so in time as many molecules must return to the water from the s.p.a.ce above as leave the water in the same time. When this condition exists, the air above the water is said to be _saturated_. On very damp days the air is often saturated. The explanation above shows why wet clothes dry so slowly on such a day (See Arts. 166-7 on Saturation.)

=19. Cooling Effect of Evaporation.= We have seen that warming a gas increases its volume. This expansion is due to the increased motion of the warmed molecules. Now the molecules that escape from a liquid when it evaporates are naturally the fastest moving ones, _i.e._, the hottest ones. The molecules remaining are the slower moving ones or colder molecules. The liquid therefore becomes colder as it evaporates, unless it is heated. This explains why water evaporating on the surface of our bodies cools us. In evaporating, the water is continually losing its warm, fast moving molecules. The _cooling effect_ of evaporation is, therefore an evidence of molecular motion in liquids.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 8.--Osmosis Shown by carrot placed in water.]

=20. Osmosis.=--If two liquids are separated by a membrane or porous part.i.tion, they tend to pa.s.s through and mix. This action is called osmose, or _osmosis_.

Such a movement of liquid molecules in osmosis may be ill.u.s.trated by filling a beet or carrot that has had its interior cut out to form a circular opening (see Fig. 8) with a thick syrup. The opening is then closed at the top with a rubber stopper through which pa.s.ses a long gla.s.s tube.

If the carrot is immersed in water, as in Fig. 8, a movement of water through the porous wall to the interior begins at once. Here, as in the experiment of the hydrogen and air pa.s.sing through the porous cup, the lighter fluid moves faster. The water collecting in the carrot rises in the tube. This action of liquids pa.s.sing through porous part.i.tions and mingling is called _osmosis_.

Gases and liquids are alike in that each will _flow_. Each is therefore called a _fluid_. Sometimes there is much resistance to the flow of a liquid as in mola.s.ses. This resistance is called _viscosity_. Alcohol and gasoline have little viscosity. They are _limpid_ or _mobile_. Air also has some viscosity. For instance, a stream of air always drags some of the surrounding air along with it.

Important Topics

1. Liquids behave as if they were composed of small particles in motion.

2. This is shown by (1) Diffusion, (2) Solution, (3) Evaporation, (4) Expansion, (5) Osmosis.

Exercises

1. Give an example or ill.u.s.tration of each of the five evidences of molecular motion in liquids.

2. When is air saturated? What is the explanation?