Abstract
THE influence of a trace of water vapour on a chemical reaction was first noticed by Prof. H. B. Dixon in 1880. He found that it was possible to pass electric sparks in a mixture of carbon monoxide and oxygen without explosion if the mixture had been very carefully dried. Shortly afterwards Cowper proved that dried chlorine had little or no action on several metals. Further observations were made by Prof. Dixon's pupils, the author in 1884 showing that carbon could be heated red hot in dried oxygen, that sulphur, and even the very inflammable phosphorus, could be distilled in the same gas without burning. Later experiments proved that ammonia and hydrogen chloride gases could be mixed without uniting, and that the readily dissociated ammonium chloride could be converted into a true vapour, and sulphur trioxide could be crystallised on lime, provided always that moisture was, so far as possible, removed. In 1902 it was shown that tubes containing very dry and pure hydrogen and oxygen could be heated to redness without any explosion resulting, and in 1907 that nitrogen trioxide could exist in the gaseous state if carefully dried.
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The Influence of Moisture on Chemical Change 1 . Nature 80, 175–176 (1909). https://doi.org/10.1038/080175a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/080175a0