14. MATTER HAS DENSITY.
This quality is exhibited in two ways in matter. In the first, the different elements in their atomic form have different masses or atomic weights. An atom of oxygen weighs sixteen times as much as an atom of hydrogen; that is, it has sixteen times as much matter, as determined by weight, as the hydrogen atom has, or it takes sixteen times as many hydrogen atoms to make a pound as it takes of oxygen atoms. This is generally expressed by saying that oxygen has sixteen times the density of hydrogen. In like manner, iron has fifty-six times the density, and gold one hundred and ninety-six. The difference is one in the structure of the atomic elements. If one imagines them to be vortex-rings, they may differ in size, thickness, and rate of rotation; either of these might make all the observed difference between the elements, including their density. In the second way, density implies compactness of molecules. Thus if a cubic foot of air be compressed until it occupies but half a cubic foot, each cubic inch will have twice as many molecules in it as at first. The amount of air per unit volume will have been doubled, the weight will have been doubled, the amount of
matter as determined by its weight will have been doubled, and consequently we say its density has been doubled.
If a bullet or a piece of iron be hammered, the molecules are compacted closer together, and a greater number can be got into a cubic inch when so condensed. In this sense, then, density means the number of molecules in a unit of space, a cubic inch or cubic centimeter. There is implied in this latter case that the molecules do not occupy all the available space, that they may have varying degrees of closeness; in other words, matter is discontinuous, and therefore there may be degrees in density.