Paper, 'Spectroscopic studies on gaseous explosions' by G D [George Downing] Liveing and James Dewar

Description

Liveing and Dewar write: 'Having occasion to observe the spectrum of the flash of a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen fired in a Cavendish eudiometer, we were struck by the brightness, not only of the ubiquitous yellow sodium line, but of the blue calcium line and the orange and green bands of lime, as well as of other lines which were not identified. The eudiometer being at first clean and dry, the calcium must be derived either from the glass or from some spray of the water over which the gases with which the eudiometer was filled had been confined. It seemed incredible that the momentary flash should detach and light up lime from the glass, but subsequent observations have pointed to that conclusion. Our next experiments were made on the flash of the combining gases inclosed in an iron tube, half an inch in diameter and about 3 feet long, closed at one end with a plate of quartz, held in its place by a screw-cap and made tight by leaden washers. Two narrow brass tubes were brazed into the iron tube at right angles to the axis, one near each end, and one of these was connected with an air-pump, the other with the reservoir of gas. Into one of these brass tubes was cemented a piece of glass tube with a platinum wire fused into it whereby the electric spark was passed to fire the gas. The tube was placed so that its axis might be in line with the axis of the collimator of a spectroscope, and the flash observed as it travelled along the tube.'

Annotations in pencil and ink.

Subject: Spectroscopy

Received 28 March 1884. Read 3 April 1884.

A version of this paper was published in volume 36 of the Proceedings of the Royal Society as 'Spectroscopic studies on gaseous explosions. No. I'.

Reference number

PP/4/43

Earliest possible date

1884

Physical description

Ink and graphite pencil on paper

Page extent

12 pages

Format

Manuscript