00000069.htm

54 RA YS OF POSITIVE ELECTRICITY

oxygen the fainter was the line due to the doubly charged
oxygen atom in comparison with that due to the atom with
only one charge. It would thus seem that atoms torn from
chemical compounds were more likely to have a double charge
than those obtained from a molecule of the element. Chemical
combination can not, however, be the only means by which
the atoms acquire multiple charges, for the atoms of the inert
monatomic gases, neon, argon and crypton, are remarkable for
the ease with which they acquire multiple charges.

I have not been able to find any case in which a molecule
of either an elementary or compound gas carries a double
charge. The line corresponding to the molecule of nitrogen
appears on some plates to have a prolongation towards the
vertical axis; this would imply a double charge on the nitrogen
molecule. I am inclined to think that this prolongation is not
really due to the nitrogen molecule, but to the atom of alu-
minium, as m\e for this atom is 27*5, and for the nitrogen
molecule 28, the lines would be so close together that It would
be difficult to differentiate them.

Charged atoms on the view we have been discussing are in
general produced by the impact of other charged atoms or
molecules, while charged molecules are produced by the im-
pact of cathode rays. This must not be taken to imply that
cathode rays never produce charged atoms; it is probable
that they would do so if they hit one of those corpuscles in
the molecule which help, by the forces they exert, to bind the
two atoms in the molecule together. There is direct evidence
that in some cases charged atoms are produced by cathode rays,
for'Fulcher (" Astrophysical Journal," 34, p. 388) has shown
that the passage of cathode rays through a gas generates in
some cases the line spectrum of the gas, and line spectra are
regarded as arising from atoms and not from molecules.

But though cathode rays may produce some charged atoms



	54 RA YS OF POSITIVE ELECTRICITY oxygen the fainter was the line due to the doubly charged oxygen atom in comparison with that due to the atom with only one charge. It would thus seem that atoms torn from chemical compounds were more likely to have a double charge than those obtained from a molecule of the element. Chemical combination can not, however, be the only means by which the atoms acquire multiple charges, for the atoms of the inert monatomic gases, neon, argon and crypton, are remarkable for the ease with which they acquire multiple charges. I have not been able to find any case in which a molecule of either an elementary or compound gas carries a double charge. The line corresponding to the molecule of nitrogen appears on some plates to have a prolongation towards the vertical axis; this would imply a double charge on the nitrogen molecule. I am inclined to think that this prolongation is not really due to the nitrogen molecule, but to the atom of alu- minium, as m\e for this atom is 27*5, and for the nitrogen molecule 28, the lines would be so close together that It would be difficult to differentiate them. Charged atoms on the view we have been discussing are in general produced by the impact of other charged atoms or molecules, while charged molecules are produced by the im- pact of cathode rays. This must not be taken to imply that cathode rays never produce charged atoms; it is probable that they would do so if they hit one of those corpuscles in the molecule which help, by the forces they exert, to bind the two atoms in the molecule together. There is direct evidence that in some cases charged atoms are produced by cathode rays, for'Fulcher (" Astrophysical Journal," 34, p. 388) has shown that the passage of cathode rays through a gas generates in some cases the line spectrum of the gas, and line spectra are regarded as arising from atoms and not from molecules. But though cathode rays may produce some charged atoms