Lord Rayleigh, John William Strutt (1842-1919), was one of the most well known s

Question

Lord Rayleigh, John William Strutt (1842-1919), was one of the most well known scientists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, publishing over 440 papers and receiving the Nobel Prize in 1904 for the discovery of argon. An important turning point in Rayleigh's discovery of Ar was his experimental measurements of the density of N_2-Rayleigh approached this experiment in two ways: first by taking atmospheric air and removing all O_2 and H_ and wood, by chemically producing N_2 by decomposing nitrogen containing compounds (NO, N_2O, and NH_4NO_3) and again removing all O_2 and H_2. Following are his results for the density of N_2, published in Proc, Roy, Ste. 1894, LV, 340 (publication 210) (all values are for grams of gas at an equivalent volume, pressure, and temperature)^25 Explain why this data led Rayleigh to look for, and discover Ar.

Explanation / Answer

If you carefully notice, then you can see there is a little difference in density of nitrogen gas derived from chemical and atmospheric sources. As for example N2 density 2.31017 obtained from atomosphere v/s N2 density 2.30143 obtianed from chemical source (from nitric oxide). So, weight of the nitrogen obtained from atmospheric source is approximately 1 % more than weight of nitrogen obtained from chemical source. Though the difference is very slight but important enough to attrack their attension and finally they conclude that there must be something else in air mixed with nitrogen which later discovered as Argon. Argon content in Earth atmosphere is about 0.93 %.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse L
• Subjects

---

---

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.