Abstract
As a first step on the road towards the liquefaction of helium the theory of van der Waals indicated the determination of its isotherms, particularly for the temperatures which are to be attained by means of liquid hydrogen. From the isotherms the critical quantities may be calculated, as van der Waals did in his Thesis for the Doctorate among others for the permanent gases of Faraday, which had not yet been made liquid then, either by first determining a and b, or by applying the law of the corresponding states. Led by the considerations of Comm. N°. 23 (Jan. 1896) 1) and by the aid of the critical quantities the conditions for the liquefaction of the examined gas may be found by starting from another gas with the same number of atoms in the molecule, which has been made liquid in a certain apparatus. By a corresponding process in an apparatus of the same form and of corresponding dimensions the examined gas may be made liquid.
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Developed in view of the statical liquefaction of hydrogen and the obtaining of a permanent bath of liquid hydrogen (Comm. N°. 94f) at which I was working then.
The inversion points of the effect having reference to the amount 0 and therefore being independent of the number of atoms in the molecule, are at corresponding states, and the inversion point for small densities is at corresponding temperature for all gases as far as they obey the law of corresponding states. This is easily deduced from the considerations of Comm. N°. 23.
The Boyle-point, as well as the Joule-Kelvin-inversion-point for small densities is a corresponding temperature and both are therefore theoretically proportional. In the present question it is better to refer to the Boyle-point than to the Joule-Kelvin-inversion-point, as between these two points association or any other deviation of the law of corresponding states occurring at lower temperatures can begin.
Comp, for cryostats: Comm. N°. 14, 51, 83, 94; for thermometry: Comm. N°. 27, 60, 77, 93, 95, 99, 101, 102; for manometers, piezometers and determination of isotherms: Comm. N°. 44, 50, 69, 70, 71, 78, 97, 99, 100.
If there is not accepted an improbably high value for the critical pressure of helium, than this comes practically to the same as if the critical point was estimated at below 2°, because the difference between the boiling point and the critical point cannot exceed some tenths of a degree. — Prof. Olszewski kindly drew my attention to the fact that in the original quotation of his statement in the present paper as well as in a previous one I erroneously had written critical point in stead of boiling point and I avail myself of this occasion to rectify my error. I remark that in the case of helium it was not to be considered as impossible that the critical pressure was below 1 Atm. (comp. § 4). But in this case experiments in which the gas is expanded from a high pressure to the, atmospheric pressure as were made by Olszewski cannot decide about the question if the gas can be liquefied or not at a certain temperature. The gas may become liquid at that temperature and yet have no boiling point at all, boiling becoming only possible at reduced pressure. It was therefore that in my expansion experiments I continued the expansion in vacuo.
Cf. p. 10 footnote 1.
Just as when it was used to get a permanent bath of liquid oxygen (completed 1894, Comm. N°. 14) it was now again in the pioneering cycle and rewarded well the work spent on it especially in 1888 when I was working at the problem to pour off liquid oxygen in a vessel under atmospheric pressure by the help of the ethylene cycle.
With the help of the regenerative cascade (cf. Comm. N°. 94f XIII and Suppl. N° 18a).
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© 1991 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Onnes, H.K. (1991). “The liquefaction of helium.”. In: Gavroglu, K., Goudaroulis, Y. (eds) Through Measurement to Knowledge. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol 124. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2079-8_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2079-8_7
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