Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 65.djvu/398

394 for the second. A similar observation may be made for the tetraiodine-fluoresceine and its potassium salt. In general the figure shows that the spectrum is changed in a very conspicuous manner at the smallest chemical change of the molecule.

It might therefore be expected, after the old manner of view, that the replacement of hydrogen by a metal in permanganic acid, or of one acid rest by another in the salts of para-rosaniline, would wholly change the character of the spectra. This is not the case, as Ostwald has shown. The spectra are wholly unchanged, as Figs. 8 and 9 show. The spectra are all produced by the same substance, viz., the permanganate-ion, in the one, the para-rosaniline-ion, in the other case. Only in the case of the para-rosaniline salts we observe that the absorption is sensibly weaker in some cases than in others. The weakening depends upon the hydrolysis of the salts of the weak acids, e. g., acetic and benzoic acids. This research of Ostwald shows in a most convincing manner the correctness of the views of the theory of electrolytic dissociation.

It has been objected to this theory, that according to it it might be possible by diffusion to separate both ions, e. g., chlorine and sodium, from another in a solution of sodium chloride. In reality chlorine diffuses about 1.4 times more rapidly than sodium. But the ions carry their electric charges with them. Therefore if we place a solution of sodium chloride in a vessel and we pour a layer of pure water over it, it is true that in the first moments a little excess of chlorine enters the water. By this the water is charged negatively, and the solution under it positively, so that the sodium ions are driven out from the solution with a greater force than the chlorine ions. As soon as that force is 1.4 times greater than this, the chlorine ions travel just as slowly as the sodium ions. It is not difficult to calculate that this case happens as soon as the chlorine ion is contained in the water in an excess of about the billionth part of a milligram over the equivalent quantity of sodium. This extremely minute quantity we should in vain try to detect by chemical means. By electrical means it succeeds pretty well, as Nernst has demonstrated experimentally for his concentration elements. Therefore, the said objection is valid against the hypothesis of a common dissociation of the salts, but not against a dissociation into ions, that are charged with electricity, as Faraday's law demands. Probably this objection has hindered an earlier acceptance of a dissociated state of the electrolytes, to which, for instance, Valson and Bartoli inclined.

The gaseous laws that are valid for dilute solutions have made the calculation of the degree of dissociation possible in a great number of cases. The first application of that nature was made by Ostwald, who showed that the dissociation equilibrium between the ions and the