Ebook The Corpuscular Theory of Matter

In Chapter VII. I give reasons for thinking that the number of corpuscles in an atom of an element is not greatly in excess of the atomic weight of the element, thus in particular that the number of corpuscles in an atom of hydrogen is not large. Some writers seem to think that this makes the conception of the model atom more difficult. I am unable to follow this view; it seems to me to make the conception easier, since it makes the number of possible atoms much more nearly equal to the number of the chemical elements. It has, however, an important bearing on our conception of the origin of the mass of the atom, as if the number of corpuscles in the atom is of the same order as the atomic weight we cannot regard the mass of an atom as mainly or even appreciably due to the mass of the corpuscles. I am indebted to Mr. G. W. C. Kave for assisting in revising the proof sheets.