The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-07-03
zee uNsocIABLE MoLEcULE.
What They Accomplish When Their
Dander "a mp.

What They Accomplish When Their
Dander "a mp.
Pittsburgh Times; A story % related
Of the son Of rather illiteFate man
who, being asked. when home from COLI
leee on vacation. what ne was studying
replied that he was investigating the
subject Of molecules, Molly cules,"
said the old man. II suppose. that Is an
other Of them heather females that the
old Romans and Greeks were always
maxim such a fuss over. but when ]
went to school the girls around home
were good enough for us" Upon II
being explained to him that molecules
are mot girls. he remarked that he reck-
oned" that 1t was all right, but he had
always got along very wen withou!
them, and did mot intend to bother with
them during the rest OF his life. There
IS where the old gentleman was miSta-
ken. He wasn't acquainted with the
molecule. but all the came It did enter
very largely into his scheme. Of life.
It may be said that in the lack Of an
intimate personal acquaintance with
the molecule the old man was singular,
for none Of US have seen II. It is in.
visible. and even the microscope cannot
catch 1t and bring It within the grasp
Of our senses, through the organs Of
vision. Nevertheless, science builds on
Il. We know that everything can be
divided into parts. The very smallest
particle that we know Of can be aeparat-
ed into smaller particles. The very last
division that can be made Of the parti-
Giles Of any particular class OF matter
we call the molecule, and even many OF
these molecules are supposed to be
compound, and therefore capable OF fur-
Their division. But we cannot see them,
whether they arc simple or compound,
and their indIvisiblllty 10 only assumed
because We have not been able to 80
farther lnio the lIttleness Of the primary
elements Of matter.
We may be able to delve deeper Into
the mystery some day, but In the mean
time we know that nearly everything
that happens depends on the behavior
OF these molecules, 90 small that millions
Of them might rest upon the point OF
pin, and defy the most powerful micro-
scope to reveal their presence. Their
performances are infinite, but the most
Of the phenomena that they produce
and most Of the activity they display
are due to their unsociablllty and quar-
relsonleness, largely depending on the
temperature. There Is said to re
point OF Temperature, several hundred
degrees below zero. where every single
ono Of them Is quiet and will live in
peace with Its neighbor: but from that
point up to heat Of several thousand
degrees they kick and lombard and
thump one another, demanding more
room, like quarrelsome children In a
narrow bed.
Take water for Instance. AS long as
It is at temperature below 2l2 degrees
Fahrenheit. the molecules Will lie to-
gether closely In a dense mass, but
when once the above temperature Is
reached they will begin to kick for
more room, In fact they want many
hundred times as much room as before,
and II they are confined in q boiler their
combined kicking and pushing will
cause such pressure that II the boiler
Is not very strong It will be burst with
terrible force. There is hardly any
thing that will hold the molecules to-
gether under such circumstances, II
the heat keeps on increasing. They OBJ
jeCt to It, and will get out OF 1t regard
less VI CONSEQUENCE AVN AgA q ANAAa
time ingenious men have taken advan-
tage of this infirmity Of temper IN the
molecule. and thereby have caused II
to do a great portion Of the worlds
work,
When they get kicking and cutting
each other inside the boiler so that It
is almost ready to burst, some Of them
are let out into cylinder, where they
drive movable piston, which In turn
communicates with a wheel, and We
call the whole apparatus the steam en-
CINE. But this useful machine would
never move were It not for the fact
that the molecules got their dander up,
and refuse to be crowded together.
after they are warmed up to a certain
point. Now what happens to the mol
ecules Of water happens to all other
molecules at various temperatures, ell
ther above or below that at which those
OF water become so vigorously quarrel
some, and so dislncllned to keep each
other close company. At all the COM
mon temperatures produced by the
weather the air molecules are unsocla-
BILE, and want to be 800 or more times
as far apart as when they were re-
duced to temperature far below those
which ordinarily prevail, and at which
they viii lie almost as close together
as those Of water. so that they form
what we call liquid.
There was a time, 30 the scientists
tell US, when the earth was 30 hot
that every molecule Of every kind was
Kicking every other one, and when, in
consequence. there was nothing liquid
or solid In the whole mass, The sun is
said now to be In the same state and It
Is owing to the quarreling OF Its mole
cules that We get heat and light from It.
1t ia owing to our having learned the
trick OF stirring up the Ire Of molecules
that we are able to shoot. to blast
rocks and to evolve force from various
samples of matter, and It is by setting
up agitntions in molecules that heat
and light and electricity are transmit
ted. II you want to be posted on what
Is going naround you, you want to
look up the molecule. You make
great mistake IL you. like the old
man mentioned IN the beginning, sup.
pose that you can get along without
them.