NO. II STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM PARSON 1 5 



electrical attraction and to the magneton or magnetons of another 

 atom by magnetic attraction at one and the same time. 



PART II. THE STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM 

 §5. Forces between Magnetons 



In assuming that the magneton has the properties of a current 

 circuit (§i), we have pictured it as a rotating annular charge, and 

 implied that the behavior of this charge is in accordance with the 

 laws of ordinary electrodynamics. This picture I shall use in further 

 delimiting the nature of the magneton as it is required by the present 

 theory. 



First must be considered the exact nature of the forces acting 

 between two magnetons, and more especially the conditions under 

 which they could be attracted together so closely as to coalesce ; for 

 coalescence, if spontaneous, would be an irreversible phenomenon, 

 and therefore could not be possible for the magnetons that are con- 

 cerned in the chemical actions of the atom. (We can, without 

 inquiring into the nature of the magneton's structure, define coales- 

 cence as the coming of two magnetons into the most intimate contact.) 



If two magnetons, of fixed dimensions and peripheral velocity, with 

 their axes in the same straight line, are at a distance d apart, the 

 forces between them obey the following laws : 



The magnetic attraction or repulsion (M) is as -r when d is very 



small, and as -^ when d is very great, compared with the radius of 

 the magneton. The corresponding functions for the electrical repul- 

 sion (E) are T ,- and -,- . Thus, when d is small, as it would be just 



v J d d 2 



before coalescence, the forces are similar to those between two 

 parallel linear charges of infinite length that are moving in the direc- 

 ion of their length with a velocity equal to the peripheral velocity of 

 the magneton (v). Then, if c is the velocity of light, the ratio of the 



forces, ^ , is equal to ^ . Therefore, if v<c, M<E and magnetons 



cannot coalesce ; also the resultant force is one of repulsion for all 

 values of d, because M falls off more rapidly than E as d increases. 



Even with v—c, the ratio -~ remains <i, except in its limiting value 



when d becomes zero : this would just permit coalescence, but only 

 if the magnetons were first brought together by extraneous forces. 

 I have neglected the " thickness " of the magneton : on account of this 



