Affinity, Chemical Affinity relates to atomtc attractions and the forces that cause atoms to unite and form chemical molecules.
Right. These words are taken from a dictionary of of electrical words popular in 1889.
BUT, another affinity is the personal kind of attraction. And Personally, I have long had an affinity for the physicists of the the very early 20th century. I couldn't tell you why, I don't know why. But for decades now I have been reading about these people who amongst themselves were a community of questers. In the shared and all consuming quest for wisdom, answers, truth and the ability to understand it, there was community.
They were not unlike those who over centuries have been drawn to religious or spiritual communities. The destination is the same, the scenery is just different and maybe the mode of travel.
Affinity maybe forms the molecules of community. Or maybe at one time it did.
The subject "chemical affinity" however, in all its associations is far too
large for a small discussion. The present work seeks only to develop one aspect of the subject, namely, the very subtle use of old books and modern resources to assist in the development of community to comprehend, explore and take care over new phenomena which display maybe the same old problems.
Werner Heisenberg gave a lecture in 1973 in the U.S., at the National Academy of Sciences. He devoted a portion of the talk to discuss relationships .
"...it is improtant to emphasize the very great role of personal relations in the development of science or art. It need not only be the relation between teacher and pupil, it may simply be personal friendship or respect between people working for the same goal. This is probably the most efficient instrument of tradition. Among the many examples....I will only recall some of the personal relations which have shaped the history of physics in the first half of our present century"-[the 20th century] -from the lecture Tradition in Science Werner Heisenberg 1973
He then spoke of the many friendships between these great minds, and the places and gatherings and mainly-the conversations. They had not invented the podcast yet, so they met in person, in pairs, in groups, and discussed. Brought together by cohesion, seeking solutions through free thinking, heated conversations, and personal relationships which sparked the potential for great advancement and great destruction.
The era of great minds, uniquely individual characters each with an affinitty for the goal which bonded them.
" Hence the atomic physicists of the first half of [the 20th century] were merely following this old tradition of science when they looked for practical applications of atomic physics. It was of course extremely disappointing for them that the first practical application was for warfare." -from the lecture Tradition in Science Werner Heisenberg 1973
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Chemical affinity, or atomic combination, is influenced by a variety of causes:
(1) Cohesion
Cohesion, by binding the molecules more firmly together, opposes their mutual atomic attractions. A solid rod of iron will not readily burn in the flame of an ordinary lamp, but if the cohesion is overcome by reducing the iron rod to filings, it burns with brilliant scintillations when dropped into the same flame.
(2) Solution
Solutton, by imparting to the molecules greater freedom of motion, favors their chemical combination.
(3) Heat
Heat favors atomic combination by decreasing the cohesion, and possibly, by altering the electrical relations of the atoms. If too great, heat may produce decomposition. (See Dissociation.)
(4) Light
Decomposition, or the lessening of chemical affinity through the agency of light, is called Actinism. Light also causes the direct combination of substances. A mixture of equal volumes of hydrogen and chlorine unites explosively when exposed to the action of full sunlight. (See Actinism)
(5) Electricity
An electric spark will cause an explosive combination of a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen. Electricity also produces chemical decomposition.
(See Electrolysis.)
Atomic, or chemical attraction generally results in loss of the characteristic qualities, or properties, that distinguish one kind of matter from another. In this respect it differs from adhesion, or the force which holds unlike molecules together.
