Abstract
AT the Friday evening discourse at the Royal Institution on November 23, Prof. M. Polanyi dealt with heavy water in chemistry. Heavy water has a density ten per cent greater than ordinary water. Its chemical composition is the same as that of ordinary water, two hydrogen atoms to one oxygen atom. Nor is there anything unusual about the oxygen atom. All the heaviness is due to the new kind of hydrogen discovered by Prof. H. C. Urey, which is contained in the heavy water. Its atomic weight is two instead of one. Heavy hydrogen atoms have the same structure as ordinary hydrogen atoms, only with a heavier nucleus. Such a pair of atoms would have the same chemical properties if the atoms were merely material particles. Atoms, however, are not only particles, but they are also waves: as waves, the two hydrogen atoms are different. The heavy one has a shorter wave-length. The chemical dissimilarity between the two hydrogens shows to what extent atoms behave as waves and not as particles.
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Heavy Water in Chemistry. Nature 134, 843 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/134843a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/134843a0