THEORY OF LIFE 119 



V. KNOWN CONSTANTS AND UNDETERMINED 

 VARIABLES 



The three great universal constants of atomic 

 physics are well known: 



1. The electron. 6=4.774x10-1° electrostatic 

 units (Millikan); or (divided by c), 1,591x10-20 

 electromagnetic units. 



2. The ratio of charge to mass for the negative 

 electron, g/m =1.769 X 10 ^ electromagnetic (C.G.S.) 

 units. 



3. Planck's constant, h =6.55 xlO-^' erg sec. 

 The positive electron (called by some proton, a 



name also used by Zsigmondy to designate certain 

 colloid particles), the hydrogen ion, or hydrogen 

 nucleus, carries a charge that is equal to that carried 

 by the negative electron, but its mass is identified 

 with the value of the mass of the hydrogen atom, 

 1.662 X 10-24 (in grams). 



The negative electron moves at varying rates of 

 speed ; it is slow as the charge on an ion in an electro- 

 lytic solution; rapid as cathode ray — extremely so in 

 a Coolidge tube; approaches the velocity of light 

 (within less than one per cent) as beta ray; and it 

 has various and varying rates of speed in the various 

 orbits of the various atoms, and according to the 

 state of the atom, neutral, excited, or charged. When 

 the speed of the electron exceeds one-tenth the veloc- 



