154 THE NEW KNOWLEDGE. 



electrified corpuscles, the negative electricity of the cor- 

 puscles exactly balancing the positive electricity of the en- 

 closing sphere. 



This is all that Professor J. J. Thomson requires for his 

 immensely important work on the theory of the structure 

 of the atom in which the consequences of this assumption 

 are mathematically demonstrated. He places before him 

 the following questions for solution: (1) What would be 

 the structure of such an atom, i. e., how would the cor- 

 puscles arrange themselves in the sphere; and, (2) what 

 properties would this structure confer upon the atom? 



The answer to the first question, how the corpuscles 

 would arrange themselves in the sphere, depends on the num- 

 ber of corpuscles and their motion. If we assume that the 

 corpuscles are at rest they will arrange themselves within 

 the sphere so that they are in equilibrium under the attract- 

 ive force of the sphere and their own mutual repulsions. 



If there are two corpuscles, only, A and B, they will be 

 in equilibrium if placed on opposite sides of the centre of 

 the sphere at a distance equal to one-half the radius. (Fig. 

 42.) If there are three corpuscles, A, B and C, they will be 

 in equilibrium if they form an equilateral triangle with its 

 centres at the centre of the sphere (Fig. 43). 



Four corpuscles will arrange themselves at the corners 

 of a square. In all these cases the corpuscles arrange 



