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This theory of binary composition of all chemical compounds, through the union of electro-positive and electro-negative atoms or molecules, was extended by Berzelius, and made the basis of his famous system of theoretical chemistry. This theory held that all inorganic compounds, however complex their composition, are essentially composed of such binary combinations.
He called the separate atoms or groups of atoms into which bodies undergoing electrolysis are separated, the radicals, or ions, and named the electro-positive ions, which appear at the cathode, the kathions, and the electro-negative radicals which appear at the anode, the anions.
Such a substitution would be quite consistent with the dualistic theory, were it not for the very essential fact that hydrogen is a powerfully electro-positive element, while chlorine is as strongly electro-negative.
Hence the compound radical which united successively with these two elements must itself be at one time electro-positive, at another electro-negative a seeming inconsistency which threw the entire Berzelian theory into disfavor.
This interchange of atoms goes on until the two atoms of hydrogen which are freed last abide on the surface of the copper. The "contact electricity" of the zinc and copper probably begins the process, and the chemical action keeps it up. Oxygen, being an "electro-negative" element in chemistry, is attracted to the zinc, and hydrogen, being "electro-positive," is attracted to the copper.
Electro-positive particles unite with electro-negative particles to form chemical compounds, in virtue of the familiar principle that opposite electricities attract one another. When compounds are decomposed by the battery, this mutual attraction is overcome by the stronger attraction of the poles of the battery itself.
If it succeeds dreadful thought! my children will have driven from their home a father who could fling diamonds at their feet. In a combination of carbon and sulphur," he went on, speaking to himself, "carbon plays the part of an electro-positive substance; the crystallization ought to begin at the negative pole; and in case of decomposition, the carbon would crop into crystals "
It was thus that man in this state of consciousness was compelled to picture the foundation of the physical universe as being made up of gravity and electricity, as we meet them in the modern picture of the atom, with its heavy electro-positive nucleus and the virtually weightless electro-negative electrons moving round it.
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