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But if a divalent atom is in question the charge carried is double, and, similarly, a trivalent atom carries a triple charge. As there are no intermediate charges it is obvious that here a very close relation is suggested between electrical units and the atomic units of matter. This, however, is only a beginning.
When we compare the formula of water with that of hydrochloric acid, we find that there is twice as much hydrogen combined with one atom of oxygen as there is combined with one atom of chlorine; and in a great many other instances, we find that we can replace two atoms of chlorine by one atom of oxygen, so that we get an idea of the exchangeable value of these elements, and we say that one atom of oxygen is worth two of chlorine, or is bivalent; similarly, nitrogen is said to be trivalent.
Evidently, then, one atom is not always equivalent to another atom of a different kind in combining powers. The words monovalent, divalent, trivalent, tretrava-lent, etc., were coined to express this most important fact, and the various elements came to be known as monads, diads, triads, etc.
Thus, tin may be trivalent, SnCl , or tetravalent, SnCl . Accordingly elements have been classed as monads, dyads, triads, etc.
The second law seems, in fact, analogous to the law of multiple proportions in chemistry, and it shows us that the quantities of electricity carried vary from the simple to the double or treble, according as it is a question of a uni-, bi-, or trivalent metal; and as the chemical law leads up to the conception of the material atom, so does the electrolytic law suggest the idea of an electric atom.
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