As I screw this vessel (GH) on here (H), and
make the tubes well connected, and when I open the stop-cocks (HHH), if
you watch the level of the water (in F), you will see that the gas will
rise. I will now close the stop-cocks, as I have drawn up as much as the
vessel can hold, and being safely conveyed into that chamber, I will pass
into it an electric spark from this Leyden jar (L), when the vessel, which
is now quite clear and bright, will become dim. There will be no sound,
for the vessel is strong enough to confine the explosion. [A spark was
then passed through the jar, when the explosive mixture was ignited.] Did
you see that brilliant light? If I again screw the vessel on to the jar,
and open these stop-cocks, you will see that the gas will rise a second
time. [The stop-cocks were then opened.] Those gases [referring to the
gases first collected in the jar, and which had just been ignited by the
electric spark] have disappeared, as you see: their place is vacant, and
fresh gas has gone in. Water has been formed from them; and if we repeat
our operation [repeating the last experiment], I shall have another
vacancy, as you will see by the water rising. I always have an empty
vessel after the explosion, because the vapour or gas into which that
water has been resolved by the battery explodes under the influence of the
spark, and changes into water; and by-and-by you will see in this upper
vessel some drops of water trickling down the sides and collecting at the
bottom.
Pages:
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87