I. On the ratio of the specific heats of the paraffins, and their monohalogen derivatives

Abstract

The experiments to be described in the present paper were undertaken in the hope of obtaining data which would throw light on one of the most obscure points of the kinetic theory of gases, namely, the distribution of energy in the molecule. The properties of gases on which the kinetic theory gained its reputation were the constancy of the product of pressure and volume, and the uniformity of the coefficient of expansion. For the explanation of these in the ease of the hypothetical perfect gas no knowledge of the special constitution of the molecule is required, but for most other properties, and especially thermal properties, the kinetic theory fails to explain the facts from want of information concerning the dynamical peculiarities of the molecules of different gases.