DOC. 1
11
First of
all,
it should be noted that the
two
coefficients obtained
by
different
methods
show
quite
satisfactory
agreement
even
though
they have been
derived
from
totally
different
phenomena. The
last table
shows
a
very
satis-
factory
agreement
of the values;
only
the
higher
alcohols
show
deviations.
This is
to be
expected,
because
from
the deviations of alcohols
from [25]
Mendeleev's thermal
expansion law
and from
R.
Schiff's
stoichiometric
law
of
[26]
capillarity, it
has already been
concluded earlier
that
in
these
compounds
temperature
changes are
associated with
changes
in
the size of the molecules
of the
liquid.
Hence
it is
to be expected
that
such
molecular
changes
should
also arise
during
isothermal
compression,
so
that
for
such
compounds
at
the
same
temperature
the heat
content
will
be
a
function
of
volume.
In
summary, we
may
state
that
our
basic
assumption
stood the
test:
To
each
atom
corresponds
a
molecular attraction field that is
independent
of the
temperature
and
of the
way
in
which
the
atom
is
chemically
bound to
other
atoms.
Finally,
it should also
be
pointed
out
that the
constants
ca
generally
increase with increased atomic
weight,
but
not
always,
and not
in
a
propor-
tional
way.
The question
of whether
and
how our
forces
are
related
to gravi-
tational forces
must therefore
be
left
completely
open
for the
time
being.
It
[27]
should also
be added
that the introduction of the
function
y(r),
which
is
taken
to be
independent
of the
nature
of the
molecules, should
be
understood
as an
approximate
assumption,
and
so
should
the
replacement
of
sums by
inte-
grals; in fact,
as
the
example
of
water shows,
our
theory
does
not
seem
to [29]
hold for substances with small atomic
volumes.
Only
extensive
special
investigations
can
be
expected to bring
answers
to
these
questions.
Zurich,
13 December 1900.
(Received
on
16 December
1900)
[24]
[28]
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