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ect Hermann von Helmholtz : een Science and Culture Popular and Philosophical Essays ee Edited and with an Introduction by DAVID CAHAN Hanstans Yon Henson i in 1884, shorty befor his deat, iv asetch by Franc von Lenbac Courtesy ofthe Slemene-Forun, Munich, ‘THE UNivERSITY oF CHICAGO Press Chicago and London set 2” Phe Imeraction of Newewl Forces teeta sckers must nt be estinsted a smal, The nature ofthe Proble N35 Gute calculated to entice poring brane to fa circle for sppoach suite er with new expectations whl vanished ye shania cont ital edtcng these dupes of hoe to open ie Thee are stb ene would be tnpstbe egies hee age Tens. he learer heads, emong itm le ode ra must be ed. convince them he futifiy oftheir experiments, nd were Fprecat @s0eak much about thems, Bewildered lichen ect proclaned often enough thal they hed dome the grand sreareand 8 the incureeiess of thie proceedings ws see speedily moran tefl ino ba repute and he enon senate self ‘more ad nor thal he problem vas nt ea Aer ancther was brought uner the dominion af oral and finally a pict wae reeled where could be ‘se of pore mechanical forces no perpetual meat We have here by comparing tei prfoemg ress ofmen and animals, to eplace hich they were applied. We stl reckon the monk of steamengines Beate Free shich is expended init (a stony hioewse Eahy thane weak eh ply, however by the sll icy brovgs pote, ea SAAN ae oto be had in any quanty te ee both time andes Hah aku and instruction theiedesion eres Fant a4 toute. A machine. on the cones, high executes work ats hes is skill hasnt the ‘machines, Thus the ica been limited tothe eum measure this expen of different machines? Finest here candiet You a portion ofthe wes short a portion as epible~over the unineting Fld of mathemaica marten a ideas, in Guero ring su ts pont few fom whicha merece es prospect Ape ghen. And though example which I withere hones mel. hat Seer tani item hammer appears tobe eke romantic sill, sist U mast Fans the dak fires vey the foaming tea eee, and compare iin the sase The teraction af Nature Forces Searicemiting asi. and the Meck Cyeleps whally out of sight. and by ‘moment's atention for the less pose side ofthe question’ nave ners. This is driven hy s waterwheel which fn ie re oy rmodon bs the falling water. The ade nf the water heel Rae aon places sl vojectons thumbs. which, daring the rotation it hee animes and peri it to fll again. The falling hammer belabours tae srctage otieh is inodueed beneath. The work therefore done ty Iactne consist. in this ease. inthe litng ofthe hammer. to do whic, wvly ofthe ner st be overcome, The expenditure ot ince wily are eet ereunatonces being equal, te proportional the wel, ii ammner: i will fer example. be double when the weight tamer is dbled Hut the action ofthe hammer depends nt po Reet alone, bat sso upon the igh fom which tlle Ti alls en ho et will produce a greater effet tha if it fll through en fi Hs however, clear ht ithe machine, witha certain exten force, His the ham bead, apes st in motion, mave fiom a higher to lower postin paperiment end theory concur in teaching. that when a hamnecs oo ftedvcght is to be raited one fot. 9 accomplish thie w han {andredcigh of water must fll hugh the space of ane fot: evans siuivatet fo this eww hnmdedcight must fll Nall foo, oy te aries aunt of ow, Re. In shor fe mul eel SENS filling water by he height trough which i fly tnd rege {efor the product as the measure ofthe work ihen the Werk pach at ork the fling water escnpes unused, inasmuch oe poof fetes willnaly sacrificed forthe ske of obtaining preater speed. {wil farther rear, that this rslaton rains unchanged winter th ames driven inmeditly bs the ale of the wheel, oe whether yh intervention of whectwurk, endless sere, pulleys, ropee the mares Ler u The teraction of Netra Forces cee In, mussies oF een and animals. Aer this tow hod been ear ay Ihe are! mathematicians of the fs entry. herpes routs whic should make use sully of pure mechanic proce eee Sagi: Messe Huis ese, soul only he sgh Teceildered nd iLinstraced pepe. Tt there are sll ike ney reset a ut reskoned among the purely moving ones tna Saris, magnet, lphi,ehemical forces, al of whieh nereahe ees rangi maold cation a mectanialproceses Ther ishary smans Fron cytes eur sich is nt accompanied ty mechanic nena ay fom which mechanical work sny notte derived ere the queso ae prepewe! motion remained open: the decision ofthis question masts a rr caenadem Psi repsting which I promise to adden so cae the a, Ihe work tobe accomplished inthe pon rat fall wa given ky the am ofthe man who pumped ie dhe Sr teams the comlensed mass of air whieh propels the lig hain in a aly diferent meer, namely, bythe combucton see Ponca, Gunpowdeef iransomed by combustion fer the most ran nen serpecs Prdets. which endeavour to occupy a much greater specs tiny toe et taken py te volume othe power. Ths you seta es theca Fumo. the werk which the human am must aseomptich the ease of the air-eun is spared. ren EMS! Of cor mmc, the steamvenging, it stony sae ge ae sor hls. water vapor eich, by is eff tm canes saan rtcine i motion Here alo we dooce te ec aa at estemolwicchanica fore. bu by eommoieating hea he, ‘assaf water ina clos buier, we change this water ins a IAggeMRNE oF te Fmt he pat. is developed under sng meres Weis case: therefore ifs the hee committed which geste a iments free The ent ths ncesary for he machine we night shane Say NYS the onary method sto proc fem the conioecing oe coal Canbustion is ¢ chvwical proces. A pareulee constant of eur Shrmspher, oxygen. pve stenig ese a alates ah a Shacrant2 roe ality forte cosines ofthe combusts mae dans ins hawt mos cass on any ene isla high eee HSE At Soon a8 a potion ofthe combustible hoy. for eames A fubfclenly heated, the carbon nites ise with reat violence a seen ofthesimosphers and ferns 3 peculiar ens, earbonic ais the sane ser eect amine rm bor and champagne. By this combination ea iret te geerteds hat is generally dovekped by any eam Sebati song aliniy Tor eal oer and when the heat ore Sayegh alt apres enre in the steonengine iit chemisal meen and chemical forees which peatuce the asionishing work of thee eaten he buerueton of Natural Forces 2 tn tke manner the combustion of gunpowder is a chemical progess. whic {nthe barcel ofthe gun communienes living force tothe baller Wiile now the stean-engine develope for us mechanical work out 0 tal. wecan eooverclyseneat heat fy mechanical forces Each inoact au at f ston dost sil acs a render anon weep red-ht y Tanner. the ales of ear caring must be puceced fare casing famniton trough ction. Even tly hs propre, been applied om a frge scale n some factories, where a surplus of cae ‘over ist han this surplus is applied to eauseasrane iron platevo mace ‘epidly upow another. sa that they become strongly heated bythe fichan The beat so obisined warms the room. and thus a stove withove fee [ovided. New cou not the eat generated bythe plates be applied io sal stean-give, which in is tum shoud he able to keep te bing ates in motion? The perpetual mition would thus he a tenga eon. Ta Suestion might be asked. and could not be decided ty the alec, inathenatio-mechaniclinvetgeions. | willemark beforehand that he Bereral faw which 1 will Tay before vow answers the question te the negative. By a similar pan, however. aspectltive American set some ime ago the industrial world of Curope In excitement. The magneto deers machines oflen made use of inthe case of rheumatic disorders are we anon vo the public. By inppaning a svi sotaton tothe magnet of soc 4 Iochine we obtain powerful curens af clectreity I those resonate ‘eal water. the ater ill he resolved in itso components oxygen and iydroge Rs the combustion fag, waters eget pence ths combustion as place net in amespheve st of which oxygen on onatiutes a fh pr. bt in pre oxygen. and ia bit of shal be peed the ame. the chalk wil be riked fis white heat and give us the son like Drummond's Tight. At the same time the lame develops a conssdebie uanity of heat. Ove American proposed to lise inthis wa the poses, Qbiined from elecrolstie decomposition. and asserted, that By the combustion a sufficient amount of heat was generated to keep ¢ ametf steam-engine in setcn, which again druve his magnetoslectie macnn ecompesed the water. and thus continually prepared its own fuel, Ths oul etn have sn the mast speni ofall iscoveries: a perpceat ‘motion which, besides the force that kept it going. generated light like the San and warmed all ron t The matter was hy no means badly though (ut, Each practical step inthe affair was known to be possible: but there sho at that time were acquainted with the physical investigations which bear upon this subject, could have affirmed. on fist hearing the repors day {he mater wast he mnered among the numerous stories ofthe bleak Americ: and indeed @ fable i remained, Tis not necessary to multiply examples futher, You will infer from el 6 ‘The Ieraction of Nataral Forces therefore make the expression of our law correspond to this more genera sfgucnce tine fit place clear tha he work whic, by any mata tens whatever, is pesored vider Favourbleconions by amacine, reich may be measured inthe way elceady indicate, may be used as ara vnure of free exeon to all Further, the important question arses If fhe quantity of foree cannot be augmented exeept Ry comesponding ensumption, can tbe diminished ols? For the purposes of ourmachine It certainly can, if we neglect the opportunity to convert natural procestes to use, bles investigation as proved, not for natuce ss « whe, ave eallsio and friction of bodies agaist each other, the mechanies of fxmer year assumed shmply that living force was fst, But I Haye Stready stated that each collision and cach act of fetion generates Hea sar morever, Joule has extalished by experiment the important law, tet ‘pevcvcry foot pound of force which i fost a definite quantity of Ret it wrap penerated and that when wodk is peformed by the consumption of seer each fot pound thus guned e definite quant of heat dsappens "Fre quuty of eat neces to rst the temperature of pound of wer see ofthe Centigrade thermometer, comesponds a & mechaslea Tce dy atic a pound weight would be raised to te beigt of 1,350 eat ve rye this qdanity the mechanical equivalent of hea. may mention here teat hese facts conduct of necessity tothe conclusion, that heat 0b as xoet Fonmery imagined, a fine imponderabe sstance, bat thal ks Ligh Yi a ponular shivering motion of the ultimate patcles of bodies. tp i Misi and friction, according to this manner of viewing the subjec, the seoon of the mass ofa body which is apparently lost is converted into @ motion uf tie allimate particles of the body; and conversely, when rrespanial force generated by heat, the motion ofthe ulate particles {es converted into a motion ofthe mass. “Chomical combinations generate eat, nd the quantity of this best 5 totaly independent he time and steps through wick he combination bos rae reed, provided tat ther actions are nota the same time brought say howeve, mechanical work iat the came me accomplishes in pe case of the stear-engine, we oblain as much ess eat 39 is Ss iales to his work. Te quant of work produced by chemical oe® tan general very gre. A pound of the purest coal gies, when Dams «Flat nett reise te empeature of 8,086 pounds of water one degree wine Centigrade thermometer, rom this we can caloulate that te Sfoguide ofthe chemical force of atcton between the particles of 8 Found of col andthe quanity of oxygen tht coespend oi Scape Pring wight of 100 pounds oa eight of twenty miles, Unfortunatly, seat rsam-engines we have hitherto been ale to gsin only the smallest ration of tis work, te greater partis ost nthe shape of eat. he Bot Perantve engines give back a rnechanical work only 18 pe cent. of the The Interaction of Matoral Forces heat generated by the fuel Toon a similar investigation of all the other known phys chemical processes, we aie atthe eonctusion that Navas 65 ‘whole possesses a store of free which eannot im any way be either increased ot Fosttehed, and that therefore the quantity of force in Neture is Jot 8 gral and unalterable asthe quantity of mater. Expressed in the orm, have named the general aw “The Principle of the Conservation of Force! “Vamuotereate mechanical free, but we may help ourselves frm the, general storehouse of Nature, The brook and the ‘wind, which drive oat ‘hills, the forest and the coal-bed, which supply uF sleam-engines and sour rooms, are to ws the bearers ofa small portion of te great natural Supply which we draw upon for our purposes, andthe actions of which We tan apply as we tink it The possessor of mil claims the gravity of the saa areifag rivulet, or the liviig force of the moving wink as his : ‘of the store of Nature are what give his property, se htm the fot that no potion of Fores ean be above Tos dose not follow that portion may nt be inapplicable to uma oo aaa ratet the iaferences drawn by Wiliam Thoméon fom the law of I Per ntnce, This In, was dzcovered by Carmo ng Carn yur a even he relations betveen hea and oechanicl es, ier yrere, by no means bongs tothe necessary conseqbenes Of, eae pon of force, and which Clesis Was the fs to modify in mek sonra tno lenger contradicted the above general Iw EXPE ton bewean te compressibility, te capac for eat end he cea jon by beat of ll dies, Ii nt yet completly roved ft Sareea pat some remarkable deductions having been dawn fom yan Fee il Oy expeanent, iba etiained thereby te iat degie of probably. Besides the mathematical frm in wich Oe via ees expressed by Carol, we can give it the following more ta eapenons—“Only when eat passes or wane 1 lt se oven thn aly paral, can be converted into mechani, wore a. peat ofa body which we cant co! fuer, annot be hanged anata ann of foree~ino elec or chemical fre for example. Thus ae angines we convert a poron ofthe hea of he lowing coal x6 sat pemiting io pass to the Less warm water of the bles, Hoek Ei he bodies in Nature had the same tempera it would bs Voce to conver any potion oftheir heat ito meshes wet ia rhe we can did Be ta force store of the univers into ea, ase enchant conve fo be acs he oe as ne ton ofthe het ofthe warmer bodes, and the total spy of vic 2 Popshaneal, eleceal, nd magaetia fees elon, pee wt 2 ‘The interaction of Natural Forces au al events, pally retarded by the larger bodies and incorporated in a The ltr undoubiedly happens with te shooting stars and meteoric apones which come within the range of our atmosphere, Tr eautote the density ofthe mass of ou planetary syslem,accorting tothe sbove assumpiion, forthe time when it was a nebulous sphere wish 10 aps te ptt of the outermost planet, we should find that would reece overalls of cubic miles of such mater to weigh Snel ‘rain “The general atactve force ofall matir mast Rowever impel eee anaaten approach each ater, and to condense 0 thatthe hebulows sPN=TE cases tncesemlysmale, by whieh, according to mechanical lays, © ae af ation originally slow, andthe existence of which rust bs rote ould gredually become quicker and quicker, By the exntifgs! ‘ace which must act most eneglically inthe neghbourood of He ‘Goat of the nebulous sper, mses could frm me to time be Seay. whic eferards woul conus their cores separate For he ay ee: forming themselves into single planets, or, srl tothe erst ve spher, ino panes with anllites and rings, ul ily ts orp aay condensed lint the sun With regard tothe gi of Per end fight ths theory orginally gave no information. “When the nebulous chaos separated itself fom other fixed star masses stmubenot only have contained al kinds of matter which was o conte ‘patstre planetary system, Bu sso, accordance with our new ase ae a reat force wich a 8 fare ie ought to wnt therein is wae ef cvonsIndced, in this respect an immense dower was bestowed rhe shape ofthe general atocton ofall the particles foreach oer, This vases hich on the earth exer ise as gravity, ats in the heavenly specs eSreiinton, As terrestrial gravity when it daw a weight downass $eeFeme work and generates is viv, 3 also the eaenly bodes do rt when they dea to portions of mater frm distant regions oF space towards each other, “The chemeal forces must have been als present, ready (0 aot But tent fovees ean only eome into operation bythe mos intimate conta ef sae cat nasees, condensation must have taken pace befor the play of chemical forces began. arabes a til farther supply of force in the shape of heat was preset at ne camumeagernente do at know. Atal events, by aid ofthe law oF Tengafatence of eat and work, we ind in the mecca Coces Sx aera to which we refer such a ich source of eat and light that ee A easy watever to take refuge in the idea of store ofthese Fores sreeiy existing When, dough condensation of the masse Wel pauls came ino clon and clung t etch oer, the i ye 2 rari ld be thereby aniilted, and ent reappear as ett Alrey ‘The Interaction of Neural Forces 3B in old theories it has been calculated that costheal masses must generate tary thi collision, but ts far frm anybody's thought to make even ees atthe amount of eat to be generate in this way. A present we can tive definite numerical values with etainty. Tat us make this addition to our assumption—that, atthe conamencement, te density ofthe nebulows mater was a vanishing quaatty cerarapared with tie present density ofthe sun and planets: we can then rarer pow much work has been performed by the Condensation; we can Father calculate how much of this work still exists in the form of ‘RiRhnieal force, as attraction ofthe planes towards the sun, and as vis, Te af theit motion, and find by this how much of the force has been converted into hes te result of this calculation? is that only ebout the 453th part ofthe, original mechanical Tore reraias as such, and thatthe reminds ae rted into heat, would be sufficient to raise amass of water equal othe ‘Sahand planes taken together, not Tess than twenty-ightmilion f degre tthe Chotigrade seat. For the sake of comparison | will mention thatthe Fighest emperatore which we can produce By the oxyhydrogenDlowpipe, aaa aufficient to fuse and vaporse even platinum, and which but few Taifes can endure without meking, is estimated at about 2,000 degrecs. Of terran ofa temperature of twenty cit mlions of such Jegrss We can” reac aevation. I the mass of our entire system were pure coal, by the orm uation of the whole of tony the 3,500th part of the above quantity ould be generated This is lo clear, that such a great development ofest oat hava petented dhe yeatest obstacle tothe sey union of the masses thatthe grester part ofthe heat ust have been difused by radiation into: ce: efor the masts could form bodies posessng the present densi spe un and planets, and thal these bodes must once have beea in asta Stttery Mudiy. This notion i corroborated by the geological phenomena of our planet form cf he sphere, which she form of euiibium of hid of amass, is ‘eaieatve of former state of fudty. 1€1 thus permit an immense quantity st heat to disappear without compensation from our system, the principle ofthe conservation of free is no thereby invaded. Certainly fr ou planet, ie Tos but rot for the universe. It has proceeded outwards, and daily Froseds outwards ito infinite space; and we Know not wher the Peon which ansmis Une undulations of ight and heat possesses an end esate rays must cetur, or whether they etemally pursue thei way through infniude, Tre sore of force at present possessed by our system i also equivalent to mmensequeniies of eat. IFour ent were by a sudden shock brought 5. See nets onpaee $3 el 36 ‘The interaction of Notaral Forces atosher heavenly bodies particulary tothe Light and heat ofthe sun, sn Sranty alo, inthe case ofthe ides to he attraction ofthe sun and moot Nacatreted and numerous are the changes which we owe tothe ight and penofthe sun The un eats ou mosphere imeglaly, the warm rarefied vearccenda, wile fresh cool ae Hows from the sides vo supply its pace: #2 ths way winds are generated. This ation s most ower athe eaustr, erat air of rbich incessantly ows in the upper regions of the snrwonere towards the poles; while just as persistently atthe earth's sare the uade-wind caries new and coal ato the equator. Without (he Pere the sun, all winds must of recessty cease Similar curents se Froduced bythe same casein the waters ofthe es, Thele power may aera from the influence which in some cases they exert upon climate. By inact Eyam water ofthe Anis is cried fo the Betis Isles, and seer upon ther a mild sniorm warmth, and ich moist; we

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