Introduction to the study of inorganic chemistry / by William Allen Miller.

  • Miller, William Allen, 1817-1870.
Date:
1871
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Introduction to the study of inorganic chemistry / by William Allen Miller. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the burning body. Nevertheless, the more the oxygen is diluted by mixture with a gas which does not act chemi- cally u])on it, such as nitrogen, the lower is the apparent temijerature which is produced at the moment by combus- tion; because not only are fewer particles of oxygen in contact with the burning body, but at the same time the diluting gas carries off part of the heat, since it has its own temperature raised without contributing to the chemical action. And hence, when a body is burned in air, it seems to gi\ e out much less heat than when burned in oxygen, and it burns much more slowly. But when we blow a fire with the bellows, or cause a powerful draught of air up the chimney, we quicken the combustion and raise the heat, because we thus bring a larger number of particles of oxygen into contact with the fuel in a given time ; and by the same operation we carry off the gases formed by combustion, which are unable to combine with the burning bod)', and would prevent its contact with fresh particles of the oxygen of the air. That this is so may be seen by the check to the fire and the reduced consum[)tion of fuel caused by closing the doimper or shutting the ashpit door of a furnace. Ox)'gen is the most important and also the most abundant of the elements. We have already seen (Exj). 5), that it forms a little more than a fifth of the bulk of the air; it also constitutes eight-ninths of the entire weight of water ; while clay, limestone, and siliceous sand contain about half their weight of it. Oxygen is also found largely in various other common substances not of mineral origin, such as sugar, starch, and woody fibre, which contain about half their weight of it; and many bodies derived from animals, such as muscular tissue, leather, and horn, contain it in large proportion. Oxygen may be shaken up with water without experiencing any sensible change in bulk, for it is only slightly soluble in that liquid, too cub. centim. of it, at 15° C., dissolving about