(1) An apparatus has been designed and built for the purpose of determining molecular structure by electron diffraction using 6400 volt electrons. (2) The apparatus was checked with carbon tetrachloride whose structure is accurately known, and the interatomic distances in, and configurations of, a number of compounds determined. (3) Ethylene oxide was found to be a three membered ring with a carbon-carbon distance of 1.56±0.05A, a carbon-oxygen distance of 1.45±0.05A and a carbon-hydrogen distance of 1.05±0.07A. (4) Sulfur monochloride was found to have the two chlorine atoms attached to different sulfur atoms, the sulfur-sulfur distance was found to be 2.04±0.05A, the sulfur-chlorine distance of 1.98±0.05A and an angle of 105±5° between bonds. (5) In acetaldehyde the carbon-oxygen distance was found to be 1.20±0.05A, the carbon-carbon distance 1.51±0.05A and the bond angle 122±5°. (6) Paraldehyde was found to have a puckered ring structure with a carbon-oxygen distance of 1.41±0.05A, a carbon-carbon distance of 1.52±0.05A and the tetrahedral angle of 109° between bonds.
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