A Kinetic Model of the Electron Atom. a | 
photographs showing various phases of the motion. The time of ex- 
posure is about one-half a second. 
With three balls the motion is more complicated, the three balls tak- 
ing turns in the center. Figs. 5g, 5h, and 51 give photographs of the 
motion of three balls. The motion reminds one of a complicated game 
of leap frog. 
With a number of balls the motion becomes very complicated. The 
mercury at the edges of the tray is stationary while the central portion 
is rotating. The angular velocity increases as we go from the edge to 
the center; the balls floating on the surface tend to take up the same 
angular velocity as the mercury on which they float. Thus there is a 
tendency for the balls to take up a motion which may approximate to 
planetary motion. Thus we may assume that they obey Kepler’s law. 
This is shown in Fig. 5j. This photograph also shows two balls ex- 
clanging rings. 
In the Mayer experiment, balls stationary, when there are a number 
of rings any one ball is held in its place by the central force and the 
mutual repulsion of the neighboring balls. The balls of one ring fit into 
the crotches of the neighboring rings. When the balls are rotating and 
the angular velocity of the outer ring is less than that of the inner ring 
there is a slipping of one ring with respect to the one next to it. This 
slipping produces a perturbation or a vibratory motion which is super- 
imposed on the regular circular motion. This perturbation may be said 
to be the source of some sort of radiation, light perhaps. 
When a ball is allowed to come in from the outside there is a great 
disturbance of the whole system. This is shown in Fig. 5c, where a 
ball has been caught coming from the bottom of the photograph into the 
system. In this case the balls were not rotating. If the balls represent 
electrons this disturbance may be said to be the source of X-rays as 
when a cathode ray hits an atom of platinum, say. With a large number 
of balls the motion is very much more complicated than one would expect. 
At times a ball will start out from the outer ring and apparently seem 
to try to escape from the system. Due to the friction of the mercury 
and the nature of the field the ball always returns. If a ball were to 
escape it would cause a rearrangement of the others or a disturbance 
similar to that caused by an added ball. This tendency of the balls to 
fly off is especially great if the current through the mercury is increased, 
or if the system is absorbing energy. This may be an illustration of 
what takes place in the photo-electric effect or in the case of ionization 
produced by hot bodies. 
In the case when a ball flies out when rotating at normal or constant 
velocity we have an explanation of gamma rays caused by beta rays. 
Or we may let the balls represent alpha rays, helium atoms, or that 
