1033
S L W BOOKS
Liquids and Mechanism of Fusion; Heat Motion in Liquids and their Mechanical Properties; Orientation and Rotational Motion of Molecules in Liquid Bodies; Surface and Allied Phenomena; Kinetics of Phase Transitions; Properties of Solutions; and High Polymeric Substances, F. H. MACDOUGALL.
+-
Inorganic Syntheses. Vol. 11. Edited by W. C. FERSELIUS. xii 293 pp. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1946. Price: $4.00. The second volume of Inorganic Syntheses follows the general pattern established by the first, but several marked improvements have been introduced. Methods of synthesizing eighty-one varied compounds are presented, the list including some relatively simple substances, such as barium bromate and nitric oxide, as well as such complex materials as triammonium imidodisulfate and ,dichloro-bis-ethylenediamine-cobaltic chloride. Relatively large amounts of space are devoted to the separation and purification of rare earth materials (33 pages) and to derivatives of the less common acids of sulfur (24 pages). The directions for all of the preparations have been made as specific as possible, and each synthesis has been checked by a t least one independent investigator to insure the workability of the procedures and the elimination of directions which might be misinterpreted. In addition to the experimental part, the volume contains articles on the properties of several of the important types of inorganic compounds for which methods of preparation are given. Tbese include the metal derivatives of the 1,3-diketones, compounds of the rare earths, and the metal carbonyls. The nomenclature and indexing used in Volume I have been greatly improved in Volume 11, and the book contains a short but excellent article (by Miss Janet D. Scott) on the nomenclature of inorganic compounds. The index is cumulative for both volumes. The series of volumes on inorganic syntheses is designed to help laboratory workers in the preparation of all sorts of inorganic chemicals, and to outline techniques which may be adapted to inorganic preparations. The need for such help was evidenced by the warm reception accorded to Volume I. The current volume, with its numerous improvements, should be even more valuable. JOHNC. BAILAR, JR. Physical Chemistry jofor Colleges. By E. B. MILLARD.6th edition. 682 bp. New York and London: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1946. Price: $4.50. Professor Millard has again undertaken the difficult task of presenting elementary physical chemistry to beginning students. I n this, the sixth edition of his widely used text, the greater part of the subject matter has been rewritten, but the selection and order of the topics are essentially the same as in the preceding edition. The introductory chapter of the previous edition has now been expanded into two chapters: Introduction-Determination of Atomic Weights; and Elementary Thermodynamics, Then follow chapters on: Properties of Substances in the Gaseous State; Properties of Substances in the Liquid State; Crystalline Solids; Solutions; Solutions of Ionized Solutes; Thermochemistry; Equilibrium in Homogeneous Solutions; Heterogeneous Equilibrium; Phase Diagrams (formerly included in the previous chapter); Kinetics of Homogeneouo Reactions; Radiation and Chemical Change; Periodic Law of the Elements; Radioactive Changes; Atomic Structure; ColloidsSurface Chemistry; Free Energy of Chemical Changes; and Potentials of Electrolytic Cells. The number of pages has been increased from 600 in the fifth edition to 682 in the present edition; the number of problems has been increased from 327 to 355. Tbe treatment of topics is, on the whole, quite good. Many of the more difficult concepts are excellently illustrated by the large number of numerical problems worked out in detail in the text. The large number of tabulated data serve not only as a basis for some of the problems for the student, but help him t o understand the experimental basis for the laws of
1G34
NEW BOOKS
physical chemistry, and, in many cases, the limitations of their validity. The author has wisely kept these numerical data up to date in each new edition, in order that real deviations between experiment and the corresponding law shall not be concealed by the experimental errors. A large number of references t o the original literature are given, particularly for the numerical data in the text and in the problems. The student may, however, find some aspects of this volume a little confusing, and it will be the teacher’s duty to help him along. For example the text contains an unnecessarily large number of alternative and sometimes not entirely correct definitions. Heat capacity is defined on page 36 by the relations C, = (aE/aT). and Cp = (aH/aT),, on page 79 by C, = (dq/dT), and C, = (dq/dT),, and on page 83 by C, dE/dT and C, = dH/dT. It would be well to use only one of.these as a definition and derive the others. That given on page 79 is probably to be preferred, because it is not restricted to systems in which the only temperature-dependent work term is that due to expansion work. I n any case the important restriction that ( a E / a V )=~ 0 was not stated in connection with the definition given on page 83. Other examples of similar difficulties are the two definitions of the isoelectric point on pages 584 and 585, and the two definitions of free energy on pages 45 and 594. Some inconsistencies appear in the proof of constant enthalpy in the Joule-Thomson experiment. A change in what constitutes the system occurs during the argument, and as a result some misleading statements are made. Instead of calculating the work done by the original system (the whole sample of gas) on the surroundings, the author divides the gas in the porous plug into thin sections. Then, “The gas in each thin section does work on the section ahead, . .” This analysis leads to the relation dw = d(pv), even though p varies, and ultimately to “the special thermodynamic equation €or the Joule-Thomson effect, d E = Td(pv),” which is then integrated. Several difficulties in the field of molecular structure were noted. The atoms in the oxygen molecule are said to share two pairs of electrons on page 167,but are combined “not merely by sharing two pairs of electrons” on page 562. Actually, the triplet ground state of the oxygen molecule requires two unpaired electrons and these are probably involved in the bond. Cesium chloride is not body-centered cubic (pages 168 and 178) but rather simple cubic; the point a t the center of the cube (page 162) must be identical with that a t the corner before the lattice on which a structure is based can be called body centered. The author also states on page 155 that “chain hydrocarbons are linear.” Of course, they are not linear in the sense that the atoms in carbon dioxide are arranged linearly; the difficulty here may be related to the statements on pages 135 and 139, where it is stated that the carbon-carbon distance as determined from film thicknesses (1.4A,) “agrees with” the value as determined by x-ray diffraction (1.54 A.). The appearance of formulas of the type (H20), on pages 133 and 134 seems unfortunate in view of the excellent more recent work on the structure of water. I n this connection the explanation of the anomalously high conductances of HsO+ and OH- in terms of the structure of water were not found by the reviewer. A few of the important typographical errors may be worth noting. The dimensions for the acceleration of gravity are given as cm. per sec. on page 22;the first equation on page 69 should read -d, = pgdh; the dimensions of pressure are incorrectly given on page 208; the distance 10 A. corresponds to 1 mp insteadof 1 pas stated on page 567;and a few electrons and symmetry elements are missing from the structural formula for BFa (page 561),which has D8h symmetry, Typographical errors such as those on pages 43, 298, 365,552, and 612 will probably not disturb the student. The binding and the paper on which the text is printed are quite good, in view of present conditions. Naturally, the price has gone up. I do not wish to emphasize the inaccuracies or errors noted above, or those which I felt were not worth mentioning. This sixth edition of Professor Millard’s book is an excellent text for the beginning student, and, under the guidance of a competent teacher, can be most heartily recommended. WILLIAMN.LIPSCOMB.
-
.
