III. On evaporation and dissociation.—Part III. A study of the thermal properties of ethyl oxide

Abstract

In a memoir published in the Royal Society’s ‘Philosophical Transactions,’ 1886 (Part I.), p. 123, “On the Thermal Properties of Ethyl Alcohol,” we gave the results of a research on the vapour-pressures of alcohol, the densities of its vapour—both unsaturated and saturated—and the expansion and compressibility of liquid alcohol at various temperatures; and from these data were deduced the amounts of heat required to vaporize alcohol at those temperatures. Our object in these researches has been to compare carefully the behaviour of stable with that of unstable bodies, and, if possible, to acquire some clear ideas of the nature of chemical combination. But, as the properties of stable bodies are still to a great extent unknown, we have deemed it advisable to extend our research with the view of investigating this relationship; and for that purpose we have made a similar series of measurements of the thermal constants of ethyl oxide (C 2 H 5 ) 2 O. The data, and the deductions from the data, are the subject of the following memoir. Experiments on the vapour-pressure, vapour-density, expansion, and other properties of ether have been made by Regnault, Kopp, Pierre, Mendelejeff, Avenarius, and others, and their results shall be quoted when necessary.