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Show SMALLER THAN THE ATOM Men of Science Now Talk of the Ion as the Least Quantity That Can Be Imagined. For a lone time the atom was spoken spok-en of as being the smallest thing in the world, so small indeed that II could not be seen with the most pow erful magnifying glass. A molecule is the smallest part of any material. , It is supposed to be made up of atomi of various elements. Thus a molecule of water is made up of one atom ol oxygen and two atoms of hydrogen Now we hear that the atom may be broken up into fragments called ions The ion is both the smallest quantity quan-tity of matter and the smallest quantity quan-tity of electricity capable of existing In a free state. It is so Bmall that 11 enough electricity to generate the hydrogen in a toy balloon were to be obtained by counting out the ions, 100 to the minute, the task would occupy 100,000,000 persons 4,000,000 years. And yet these Ions have been Isolated Isolat-ed and measured in the laboratory ol Prof. It. A. Millikcn of the University of Chicago. Prof. Millikcn has modified modi-fied and Improved upon the methods of previoja experiments. Whereas those used for their experiments a fog of tiny water particleB, whose average aver-age size and weight could be calculated, calcu-lated, as well as the average electric charge on each, Milliken isolates and observes a droplet of oil, which he controls and experiments upon as easily easi-ly as one might measure and test a block of steel. This droplet serves as a trap for flying Ions, the accession ol which to the drop Is at oi.ee detected detect-ed by a sudilen change In Its behavior. |