large/12904/worldswithinworlds_v1-3_1904_librivox_64kb_mp3/worldswithinworlds_01_asimov_64kb_184
large/12904/worldswithinworlds_v1-3_1904_librivox_64kb_mp3/worldswithinworlds_01_asimov_64kb
English
12904
Then he decided to make the atomic weights as small as possible, without allowing any atomic weight to be less than 1. THEN HE DECIDED TO MAKE THE ATOMIC WEIGHTS AS SMALL AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT ALLOWING ANY ATOMIC WEIGHT TO BE LESS THAN O
as 1, because that made all the other atomic weights as small as possible and therefore easy to handle. The Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius (1779-1848) continued Dalton’s work and found that elements did not combine in quite such simple ratios. A given quantity of hydrogen actually combined with a little bit less than eight times its mass of oxygen. Therefore if the atomic weight of hydrogen were considered to be 1, the atomic weight of oxygen would have to be not 16, but 15.87. [Illustration: _Jöns Jakob Berzelius_] As it happens, oxygen combines with more elements (and more easily) than hydrogen does. The ratio of its atomic weight to that of other elements is also more often a whole number. In working out the atomic weight of elements it was therefore more convenient to set the atomic weight of oxygen at a whole number than that of hydrogen. Berzelius did this, for instance, in the table of atomic weights he published in 1828. At first he called the atomic weight of oxygen 100. HE OTHER ATOMIC WEIGHTS AS SMALL AS POSSIBLE AND THEREFORE EASY TO HANDLE THE SWEDISH CHEMIST YAN JAECAB BRAZILIUS SEVENTEEN SEVENTY NINE EIGHTEEN FORTY EIGHT CONTINUED DALTON'S WORK AND FOUND THAT ELEMENTS DID NOT COMBINE IN QUITE SUCH SIMPLE RATIOS A GIVEN QUANTITY OF HYDROGEN ACTUALLY COMBINED WITH A LITTLE BIT LESS THAN EIGHT TIMES ITS MASS OF OXYGEN THEREFORE IF THE ATOMIC WEIGHT OF HYDROGEN WERE CONSIDERED TO BE ONE THE ATOMIC WEIGHT OF OXYGEN WOULD HAVE TO BE NOT SIXTEEN BUT FIFTEEN POINT EIGHT SEVEN AS IT HAPPENS OXYGEN COMBINES WITH MORE ELEMENTS AND MORE EASILY THAN HYDROGEN DOES THE RATIO OF ITS ATOMIC WEIGHT TO THAT OF OTHER ELEMENTS IS ALSO MORE OFTEN A WHOLE NUMBER IN WORKING OUT THE ATOMIC WEIGHT OF ELEMENTS IT WAS THEREFORE MORE CONVENIENT TO SET THE ATOMIC WEIGHT OF OXYGEN AT A WHOLE NUMBER THAN THAT OF HYDROGEN BRAZILIUS DID THIS FOR INSTANCE IN THE TABLE OF ATOMIC WEIGHTS HE PUBLISHED IN EIGHTEEN TWENTY EIGHT AT FIRST HE CALLED THE ATOMIC WEIGHT OF OXYGEN ONE HUNDRED
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