Abstract
As regards Prof. Lindemann's criticism of the radiation hypothesis of chemical reactions, namely, that exposure of an aqueous solution of sucrose plus acid to sunlight brings about no sensible increase in speed, two possible ways of meeting the criticism present themselves. The first is to assert that the absorbing power of the water—that is, its screening effect on the molecules of the reactant solutes—is so great that the effective radiation of sunlight is reduced to negligible dimensions in a thin layer. This suggestion was made by the present writer at the Faraday Society's discussion on September 28 last. In the light of Mr. Taylor's experiments, this suggestion is seen to be untenable. The alternative way of dealing with the criticism is based on the relatively small absorption capacity of the reactant solutes as suggested by Mr. McKeown and the present writer (Journ. Amer. Chem. Soc., p. 1304, June, 1921). In the paper referred to it is shown that a clear distinction must be drawn between photochemical and thermal conditions, the former involving an absorption coefficient term. Briefly, the treatment of the photochemical process is as follows:—
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LEWIS, W. Radiation and Chemical Action. Nature 108, 241 (1921). https://doi.org/10.1038/108241b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/108241b0
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