Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1922-03-10
Dream of Scientists fer a Thou
sand Years Achieved by
DR.. Rutherford.
FAR REACHING POSSIBILITIES
Remarkable Result of Bombarding Nj
trogen Gas With the Alpha Rays of
Radum - May Supply Unlimited
Power.

New York.-The transmutation of
elements, the dream of both charla-
tans and scientists for nearly thou
sand years, has actually been accom-
plished by the recent work of Sir
Ernest Rutherford, and his results are
generally accepted by scientists and
physicists, according to DR.. James
fstry at Columbia, who said, on the
other hand, that there was not the
slightest reason to believe that the
Germans had accomplished their re-
ported feat of making synthetic gold.
Nitrogen, sodium, aluminium, chlOr-
inc. oxygen and carbon have been
transmitted, or broken up by Ruther-
ford into hydrogen and helium, &C
cording to DR.. Kendall.
This was first accomplished, accord
ing to the claims of Rutherford, by
bombnrding nitrogen gas with the al
pha rays of radium. These s6-called
rays are helium atoms which are flung
out of the exploding rad.um atom with
an energy incomparably greater than
any prOjectile produced artificially.
The velocity of this atom would take
1t around the world In slightly less
than second, and the power of the
exploding atom. in proportion to size,
is something like million times
greater than that of trinitrotoluOl.
Result Of a Chemical Collision.
The radium was placed so as to
drive the alpha particles into nitrogen
gas. When the alpha particle had a
head-On collision with a nitrogen atom
1t tore 1t to pieces, so it is asserted.
The atom supposedly has structure
somewhat resembling the solar sys-
tenn. It's center is nucleus of posi-
tive electricity, resembling the sun of
the solar system, and this is surround
ed by electrOns, or charges of mega
tive electricity, presumably whirling
about the nucleus, as the planets whirl
about the sun.
The alpha particle Is believed to
produce such disruption in the atom
as might occur, for instance, If an
other star of the dimensions of the
sun tore through our system, hit the
sun directly and drove it off into
space, causing the planets to shoot off
In all directions.
This occurs on scale in the neigh
borhood of the billionth part of a
billionth Of an inch, but 1t can be
partly measured. The alpha particles
thrown off by radium produce scin-
tillations when they strike a screen of
zinc sulphlde within certain distance.
When they were used to lombard nj
trogen scintilations took place Mt
greater distances from the radium
than the alpha particle could alone
produce.
BY his study of these scintilations
Dr. Rutherford was able to prove to
the satisfaction of men of science gen.
orally that new products were devel-
oped by the SCATTERING of the nitro.
gen atoms and that these products
were hydrogen and helium atoms. His
experiments have all been In the way
of disorganiZing the more complex
atoms into simpler ones. The trans
mutation of atoms with simple struc
lures into those with more complex
ones has not been achieved
Or. Kendall on Rutherford.
Rutherford has reduced nitrogen
aluminium, chlorine and sodium to by
drogen and helium," said DIR. Ken
dali. "He has also produced heliun
atoms by tearing oxygen and carbon
to pieces, but hydrogen has not re