The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-06-13

O>CuAio w " 10 OUO
miles deep. A distance corresponding
TO that between New York and Chi.
caso would be 10000 miles. And. if
eNerSthlng We're constructed on the
SAM scale. men "'nuld be 500 feet tall.
ana the giant red woods of Califor.
MA eight or nine miles high.
Or course. the force of gravity, or
me weight of bodies. must also be
enormously increased. If we sunnosa
me mean density of the giant planet
10 oe INC same as that of the earth. q:
noaH mat weighs n pound here
we!shs about a hundred pounds Tiers.
ana an average man, having the sa,,a
SIZE that he has on the earth. would
mere weigh seven and a half tones.
but II we were 500 feet tall-that IA
!" say, proportloned to the size of th.
ilanet-he would Weigh seven and a
n million tons. ~
Questions of Atmosphere.
Ins calculations. all based upon per-
lectlN well known principles, that can
ne made about the condition nj
anlnss on d world so gigantic as that
mhlch accompanies Algol. We NAV.
ior instance. inquire about the state
". Us atmosphere The density and
nature of the air surroundi anv
planet depends upon the force of = :.
WY ol 1hat planet. If the planet is
very small. the force with when -
noids bodies. or gases upon it's sur
lace Is nroportionately small. Thus
w. kiio" mat d little world, like the
moon on which the weight of bodies
the earth. is unable to hoid ,ern,,n.
En,ly under its control any of tho
Iisht gases which constitute tha n;r
mat we breathe. The lighter :, eas
me quicker it escapes. because its
ho,ecuies are in more rapid vibration
man nose of heavier gases. \ gas is
a substance in which the. mo,ecu1rs
are continually nying about in every
uLletllon. with a speed depenlin. upon
the nature of 'hn gas. and unless ,ha
attractlVe force of Il plane is SUI
llclent 10 restrain the molecules OF a
sas "heh their direction of flight hap
nens 10 ne way from the center OF
ultimately the whole of the gas viii
escape INTO outer space.
~ determine whether any blame "a
aple to hold the gases that make AN
a.n1ospherc we find Out, from It's size
ING DENSITY. what speed a gaseous
, ar ule; or any other particle of mat
Ter would have to have in order to
NY directly away from it and never
letuIh: In the case of the earth isis
sn.eed Is known to be about seven r,ijaz
per second, If, then. any particle
snould start way, radially. from the
surface OF the earth's atmosphere.
mnh q Neioclty exceeding seven miles
ahd never come back. Now. the mole
CUES OF hydrogen have a maximum
,elocltN of vibration exceeding thus
llihlt, and as a consequence We find
no lfee hydrogen in the air. But he
n nro,e,ules OF oxygen and nitrogen,
ano .he other gases which are found
m arr have velocities less than seven
miles per second. wherefore they. re-.
mann attached to the earth. and form
an invisible atmosphere around if.
On the other hand. a very great
planet IKE that of Algol. would re-
IAN not only he constituents of our
sir, but also the volatile hydroean
which escapes from the EARN, bu'" oen
lrol. and for all we know. other
sases-lf there be any-whose mole
rnlar velocity is greater than thar Of
hFdrosen Thus We see that the at
m%osrhere of so huge a planet must
ne WIDELY different in its composition
toned. >"
What the consequences of the EXIST
.nee in the atmosphere of a planet of
iIee hydrogen might he ii is djtfir,,It
70 guess. We know that hydrogen
When mixed in certain proportions
Nlth oxygen will explode with extreme
,l"iehce at the touch of d flame or
-, suppose "A 1l2npf
like that of Algol, to be surrounded
WIN an atmosphere containing hydro
gen m1Hed with oxygen. and sun,,os.
,iiae' OWING to some cause. the mix.
lure attalns. AZ some point. the ey-
nioSlve rafio-and then let a flash ne
liSn.n,hs pass through IT, 1t is con-
'elNahle that the resulting e~yn,oS;on
might have the most dreadful eonsa.
..~!nshcss 1t Is worth while consider.
ing whether this may not he the rea,
cause % O of the sudden cuthurst.
of what are called new stars"
men TOO. upon such a planet 1h.
density of the atmosphere would ho
far greater than upon earth uers
the air presses with a force nf tifteso
pounds I" IN" square inch. on the
companion of Aisol-makine the an,
supposition AS before reeardin. t,a
planets densitv-the pressure wo,lj
amount 70 fhrce-quarters of a ton per
square inch. go
Probable Density.
Now. if il could be supposed tina,
the nhabitan,s of that planet var.
OF substances of rel.tiyeIy
small density. SO that an animal a.
l1lFse as a man would weigh no more
tfl"r" than 4 man does here. they
would almost be able to float in the
air, and with comparative,, slight a'd
could actually do so. Aerial na,iaa.
fion would be as easy and natural "a
thsm as swimming is to us.
ms reads US TO nothe consjdera-
1ion. We have thus far assumed that
the mean density of the great MIA net
IN the Algol system is equal to that Of
the earth. The probability is. how
ever. that tbs density mag not be MOI,
IMAM ~one-quarter of the earth's. Th,s
ca!culatlon is based both upon obser-
sauon and upon analogy. The mean
aensity of the sun. which is a body
OF nearly the same size as that with
which we are dealing, is -one-ouarter
of the earth's density. In that ras.
me total gravitation of the planet
would be only 100000 times greater
IMAM the earth's. and the weight ~
nodies on its surface would be red,,cet
TO twenty-five times their weight here.
sui even then the pressure Of it's at.
mosphere, supposed to be relatively ~
the same extent as the earth's atmos.
phere. woud be 315 pounds to tho
square inch--which is q much higher
pressure than any careful engineer
would dare to put into the best steam,
boiler. A cubic yard of that air. re-
moved to the earth's surface and al.
lowed suddenly to expand. would blow
a building to pieces like an explosion
Of dynamite.
But We have not yet touched unon
all the curious consequences resultin.
from the great size Of the mysterious
planet near Algol. Assuming that fts
mean density is one-quarter that OF
the earth. mi that,
bodies upon its surface weighs twenty.
five times as much as the same bodias
40 here. we may reasonably conclude
that its Inhabitants. instead of hetne
giants proportioned to the great si1e