Dr. Alfred's Partheil's Paper

On the Numerical Relationship of Atomic Weights

Translated Into English

486. A. Partheil, Koenigsberg: On the numerical relationship of atomic weights.

Presented in the session of December 3rd, 1903 by the author.

There are mainly two laws that govern the whole of nature, the law of conservation of energy and the law of conservation of mass. We are not able to create energy out of nothing. But we are well able to transform energy into other forms of energy. This transformation is complete, there is neither gain nor loss of energy. The opposite of energy is mass, the opposite of force is matter.

The chemist breaks the substances up into their basic constituents or elements. In the face of the epoch-making announcement of Ramsays and Soddys (1) stating their success in the transformation of the emanation that appears when dissolving radium bromide in water into helium, I do not dare to answer in the negative the question whether the chemist is able to transform a basic constituent into another element. Also, the chemist completely transforms the substances into their basic constituents and he builds out of the elements not only the whole army of the connections found in nature, but he has also synthetically created numerous connections not usually created by freelancing nature. In all these transformations of substances, the sum of the initial materials always equals the sum of the reaction products. The same as energy cannot be created or destroyed by man, matter cannot be created or destroyed. As force and matter follow the same law of conservation, should they really be something of opposing difference, or are the energeticians right when they look at matter as a manifestation of energy?

My expositions today mean, if I see it right, a noteworthy support for the view of matter as energy.

The science of chemistry today assumes that there are limits to the division of substances. A quantum of water can be continuously divided into smaller quanta until