查看文章

It will be shown in this paper that, according to the m0lecular—kinetic theory of heat, bodies of microscopically visible size suspended in liquids must, as a result of thermal molecular motions, perform motions of such magnitude that these motions can easily be detected by a microscope. It is possible that the motions to be discussed here are identical with the so—called" Brownian molecular motion"; however, the data available to me on the latter are so imprecise that I could not form a definite opinion on this matter. I'

If it is really possible to observe the motion to be discussed here, along with the laws it is expected to obey, then classical thermodynamics can no longer be viewed as strictly valid even for microscopically distinguishable spaces, and an exact determination of the real size of atoms becomes possible. Conversely, if the prediction of this motion were to be proved wrong, this fact would provide a weighty …