XIII. On the constitution of the atmosphere

Abstract

The fact discovered by Boyle and Marriotte, that the space occupied by air is in the inverse ratio of the pressure, is one of great importance in the doctrine of elastic fluids. It may probably not be mathematically true in extreme cases; but in those where the condensations and rarefactions do not exceed 50 or 100 times, there is reason to believe the above ratio is a very near approximation to the truth. Sir Isaac Newton has shown in the 23d prop, book ii. of the Principia, that if homogeneous particles of matter were endued with a power of repulsion in the inverse ratio of their central distances, collectively they would form an elastic fluid agreeing with atmospheric air in its mechanical properties. He does not infer from this demonstration that elastic fluids must necessarily consist of such particles; and his argument requires that the repulsive power of each particle terminate, or very nearly so, in the adjacent particles. From the scholium to this proposition, Newton was evidently aware of the difficulty of conceiving how the repulsive action of such particles could terminate so abruptly as his supposition demands; but in order to show that such cases exist in nature, he finds a parallel one in magnetism.