Electrochemistry

Abstract

THE author's desire is, as he states in the preface, to produce a book which will prove useful both in the laboratory and in the lecture theatre, or, as he probably means, for home study. The book commences with a brief historical review of the subject, and the student is intended to carry out some of the classical experiments upon which the foundations of this essentially experimental branch of chemistry and physics have been built up. For example, he is instructed how to repeat Sir Humphry Davy's work on the isolation of the alkali metals. A portion of this chapter is also devoted to instructions how to manipulate the electrical supply by cutting down the current from the lighting mains with a lamp resistance, or to alter the voltage by means of a small motor generator. The author then comes to the subject of electrolytic dissociation. Dr. Hopkins is no half-hearted supporter of the ionic theory; it is evidently his sheet anchor, by which all other theories must be tested, and if they do not conform then there is evidently something lacking in these theories. It must be admitted that the author makes out a very strong case for the theory of electrolytic dissociation, and he gives experiment after experiment to prove his case. Chapter ii. deals with osmotic pressure and how to carry out the determinations; a complicated apparatus is described for experimentally proving the principle of Soret. In chapter iii. boiling- and freezing-point methods are dealt with, and experiments are described to show that chemical action will not take place except in the presence of moisture. Experimental Electrochemistry. By N. Munroe Hopkins Pp. xiv + 284. (London: Archibald Constable and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 12s. net.