On the thermo-electric action of metals and liquids / by George Gore.

  • Gore, George, 1826-1909.
Date:
1871
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the thermo-electric action of metals and liquids / by George Gore. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    platinum was electro-negative to cold platinum in liquids of acid reaction, and positive to it in alkaline ones, provided in all cases chemical action was completely or sufficiently excluded. In the present experiments I have endeavoured to ascertain what electrical changes are produced in cases where chemical action more freely occurs, and I have therefore employed not platinum plates, but plates composed of a metal (copper) which is more easily corroded. To effect the object I had in view, I used the apparatus shown in sec- tion in fig. 1, and in perspective, with its wooden support, in fig. 2. Fig. 1. A and B, fig. I, are two open thin glass dishes, 6| inches diameter, and Ij inch deep, with open necks. The dishes are joined together, water- tight, by a bent glass tube, C, about I inch in diameter; and the whole arrangement is securely fixed upon a wooden frame or stand, so that it may be at once placed in an exactly horizontal position, or inverted to pour out its contents. D and E are two dishes of sheet copper of moderate thickness, made from contiguous portions of a sheet of metal to ensure electrical homogeneity in the experiments. Wires of similar metals are attached to the dishes for the purpose of connexion with a galvanometer. A galvanometer, containing about 180 turns of moderately fine copper wire, is sufficiently sensitive for the experiments. The outside of the metal dishes mtist be made perfectly clean and bright immediately before each experiment. In using the apparatus it is first set exactly horizontal, and a known and measured volume of the clear liquid to be examined, at the temperature of the atmosphere and sufficient to fill it to the line F F, is poured in; the metal dishes arc then steadily placed in the glass vessels and connected with * the galvanometer, taking care that no air-bubbles remain beneath them.