137 
1921-22.] On the Quantum Mechanism in the Atom, 
and the capacity is 
^ Ka- 
4d 
. (14) 
Eliminating d between equations (12) and (13), we have 
Q = e (15) 
This equation shows that the electric separation in the atom, ivhich is 
caused by the collision with the bombarding electron, is precisely a 
separation of two electronic charges e and —e, so that the effect of the 
collision with the bombarding electron is to displace one electron in the atom 
from its normal position, and the vibrations which generate the emitted 
radiation are the vibrations of this electron settling down again to its 
normal position : this agrees with the generally accepted view of experi- 
menters regarding the production of single-line spectra. The acquisition 
of rotational energy by the magnetic structure, of which we spoke in § 3, 
must be regarded as a picture of the way in which the atom gets wound 
up, so to speak, to the stage at which the electron is displaced. 
The manner in which the electron, while subsiding to equilibrium, 
generates radiation is, according to the view here put forward, essentially 
the same (so far as the differential equations are concerned) as the discharge 
of a condenser : and we shall therefore continue to speak of a condenser, 
although it is to be understood throughout that the object which is 
oscillating is really a single electron. 
Eliminating Q and d between equations (12), (13), and (14), we have 
an equation which expresses the capacity of the condenser in terms of the 
energy absorbed from the bombarding electron. 
Now the frequency of a Hertzian oscillator depends on two factors, 
namely, its capacity C and its inductance L, the frequency v being expressed 
in terms of these by the equation 
1 
(17) 
While it is not to be supposed that there is in the atom anything like 
an actual coil of wire possessing inductance, it seems difficult to see how 
oscillations can be generated unless there are two factors which play the 
same part in the differential equations that L and C play respectively in 
the differential equation for the oscillatory discharge of a condenser. 
We have now to consider how the elements which oscillate — the Hertzian 
vibrators or discharging condensers — differ from each other in different 
