I. On the laws of connexion between the conditions of a chemical change and its amount. No. II. On the reaction of hydrie peroxide and hydrie iodide

Abstract

In a former paper, of which an abstract appeared in the Royal Society’s Proceedings, vol. xiv. p. 470, the authors gave an account of their first experiments on this subject. The second chemical change chosen for investigation was that which occurs in a solution containing hydric iodide (hydriodic acid) and hydric peroxide. In this case the amount of change stands in relation to the following conditions,— (1) the nature of the solution, that is to say, its temperature, and the nature and quantity of the different ingredients which it contains in a unit of volume, (2) the quantity of the solution, or the number of’ such units of volume, (3) the time during which the change proceeds. The relation of the amount of change to the second and third of these conditions is determinate: it varies directly with each; for the solution is homogeneous, and, if all other conditions are fixed, the rate of change is uniform. But the first condition comprises an almost indefinite number of particular conditions; for not only may various iodides and peroxides be used without, as far as we know, altering the nature of the reaction, but other substances may be introduced into the ‘solution, and their influence upon the amount of change determined.