It will burn till the wire is entirely consumed, provided the oxygen is not first expended: for you know it can burn only while there is oxygen to combine with it.
CAROLINE.
I never saw a more beautiful light. My eyes can hardly bear it! How astonishing to think that all this caloric was contained in the small quantity of gas and iron that was enclosed in the receiver; and that, without producing any sensible heat!
CAROLINE.
How wonderfully quick combustion goes on in pure oxygen gas! But pray, are these drops of burnt iron as heavy as the wire was before?
MRS. B.
They are even heavier; for the iron, in burning, has acquired exactly the weight of the oxygen which has disappeared, and is now combined with it. It has become an oxyd of iron.
CAROLINE.
I do not know what you mean by saying that the oxygen has disappeared, Mrs. B., for it was always invisible.
MRS. B.