Evening star., 1955-02-07
Bureau Shows
Odd Factsof
Atom Science
New instruments
Display Progress
In Physics Frontier
By Thomas R. Henry

Length measurements accurate
within a tenth of millionth
of an inch, an unearthly green
flame on which may traverse
ultimate reaches of the earth's
atmosphere, an automatic de-
terminer of background radia-
ton from an atomic bomb
explosion anywhere. and de-
termination of radiant energy
wave lengths to an accuracy Of
one part in so million are among
the developments of atomic-age
science which will be displayed
at an "open house" of the
United States Bureau of Stand
ards this week..
At a preliminary showing for
bureau employees yesterday these
were revealed as some of the
foremost accomplishments Of
the past year.
The Bureaus basic job, it was
explained by DR.. Allen V. Astin,
the director, is to determine and
preserve standards of measure
ment upon the accuracy of which
almost every industrial and mill
tary enterprise in the country
depends. The number and pre-
cision of the standards required
now is increasing almost daily.
One Found Too Crude.
For the first time, the two
most basic standards of all. the
American prototypes of the
standard meter and the standard
kilogram whose originals are
kept in Paris, were brought
under guard from their UNDER
ground, temperature regulated
vault for public display. They
do not vary by the minutest
detachable fraction year after
year.
But now, DR.. Astin said, at
least one of them is too crude
for the demands of American
industry. The length measure
seems likely to be replaced by
another standard, the single
green wave length of an isotope
of mercury made by transmuta-
ton of gold. with which it is
possible in the laboratory here
to measure tenths of millionths
of an inch. This, however, is not
quite ready for industry at large.
At present the length standard
maintained for the automobile
industry is assuredly accurate
only within q millionth of an
inch. This may not thoroughly
satisfy present requirements.
Every new weapon and almost
every new major industrial de-
velopment forces the bureau into
new fields This has been par
ticularly true of the jet airplane,
designed for great attitudes. and
| has brought the physicists into
the fanstastic field of atomic
flames"
One Atom Oxygen Encountered.
The jet engine requires a flame
and if this fails the pilot is in
serious trouble. Ordinary chem
ical flame would fail near the
top of the atmosphere, where
pressures approach close to a
vacuum and where all the oxy-
gen consists of single atoms.
Oxygen at sea level is in the form
of a molecule of two atoms. A
few miles high are the ozone
blankets of three-atom oxygen
molecules.
But the one-atom oxygen is a
far different substance and about
the most reactive material in
existence. Ordinary flame re-
suits from the combination Of
oxygen and carbon in the pres
ence of heat. But when a minute
amount of the carbon compound,
acetylene, is let into bulb filled
with the atomic oxygen a flame
results at once. regardless of
heat. This is probably the only
flame that will be available at
great attitudes.
Intensive studies are being
made of it's stability and all other
characteristics on which the jet
pilot will depend. 1t varies in
shape and behavior with differ
ent simulated attitudes.
Strange Effects Found.
This green flame develops a
weird kind of heat. Standard
measurements indicate at one
stage temperature of 10000
Fahrenheit. Yet piece of glass
which ordinarily melts at less
than 1000 F. is unaffected when
thrust into this flame. This is
in keeping with the determina-
ton of extremely high tempera-
lures in the earth's upper at
mosphere where. however, a man
would almost certainly freeze to
death.
Indicating the Importance Of
some of the new gadgets de-
veloped for the Air Force, DR..
Astin told the guests that at
least half the cost of a modern
fighter aircraft goes for elec-
tronic equipment.
The public demonstrations
start tomorrow night for a group
of invited guests. with 16 of the
bureaus laboratories open for
inspection.
- r n