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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Paper, 'A discourse on this problem why bodys, dissolved in menstrua specifically lighter then themselves, swim therein' by William Molyneux

Reference number: CLP/6/42

Date: 1686

Description

Molyneux discusses how heavy materials, such as iron or mercury, can float in the lighter solvent they have been dissolved in, and how this relates to the law of hydrostatics.

Subject: Hydrostatics

Read to the Royal Society on 5 May 1686

Published in Philosophica Transactions as 'A discourse on this problem; why bodies dissolved in the menstrua specifically lighter than themselves, swim therein'

Reference number
CLP/6/42
Earliest possible date
1686
Physical description
Ink on paper
Page extent
4 pages
Format
Manuscript

Creator names

William Molyneux

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Thomas Molyneux

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Citation

William Molyneux, Thomas Molyneux, Paper, 'A discourse on this problem why bodys, dissolved in menstrua specifically lighter then themselves, swim therein' by William Molyneux, 1686, CLP/6/42, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/clp_6_42/paper-a-discourse-on-this-problem-why-bodys-dissolved-in-menstrua-specifically-lighter-then-themselves-swim-therein-by-william-molyneux, accessed on 24 May 2025

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https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/clp_6_42/paper-a-discourse-on-this-problem-why-bodys-dissolved-in-menstrua-specifically-lighter-then-themselves-swim-therein-by-william-molyneux

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  • Classified Papers

    The 'Classified Papers' of the Royal Society are papers from British and international natural philosophers and scholars categorised according to subject areas.

    Dates: 1592 - 1741

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