Davy on agricultural chemistry

✍ Scribed by ngton, J. R. Parti

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 1935
• Weight: 355 KB
• Volume: 54
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0368-4075
• DOI: 10.1002/jctb.5000543804

✦ Synopsis

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illustrntcs whnt is rncniit by the tcrm. Wlicn boron is exposed for a timc t o a-rays from n true rndionctive nintcrinl, nnd whcn the lnttcr is tlicii rcrnoved, the boron is found to have acquired nn iiiduccd radioactivity. The lnttcr fulls to half its intcnsity in a dcfinitc timc, varying froin n fraction of a second to sevcrnl hours for diffcrciit clcincnts. Ilchnviour of this sort hns now Iiccn obscrrcd for over 40 elements, nnd somc hnvc givcn inore than one product showing nrtificinl rdionctivity. Boron, for csniiiplc, under

DAVY ON

the nction of a-rays gives nn isotope of nitrogen, and this is believcd to clisintcgratc to give an isotope of carbon. This ninnzing phenomenon, and its various implicntions, hnvc added enormously to the cornplexity of physical thcories of atomic structure. In no lcss a degree have they prcscntcd n problem to the chemist. Its solution will bring him ncnrer to n complete understanding of the significance of the periodic table than ~o u l d hnvc nppcarcd possible a decade ago.