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Pluto, v. 1, issue 3, July 1940

Page 11

PLUTO                                                           11
                           IT'S BEEN PROVEN
   Most important things have their beginning or revolve about some small thing. Dust is one of the smallest things in the world and yet if it were not for dust we would not be able to see light; still, most people think of dust as being a nuisance. Dust is the cause of the sky and deep ocean being blue in color. Everyone has seen floating dust in a sunbeam when sunshine enters a partially darkened room; but it is not generally known that if there were absolutely no dust in the path of the sunbeam the path would be black and invisible, while if only very little dust were present in minute particles the air would be as blue as a summer sky. 
   This was proved by passing a ray of electric light length-ways thought a glass cylinder filled with air of varying degrees of purity with regards to dust. In the air of an ordinary room the interior of the cylinder appears brilliantly illuminated. If the cylinder is exhausted and then filled with air which has been freed of dust particles, the light will pass through the cylinder without illuminating the cylinder, which viewed laterally, will appear as filled with a dense black cloud. If air containing dust particles is gradually allowed to enter the cylinder, a slight blue haze will appear, which will gradually become a pure blue, equal to that of a summer sky. If more and more dust particles are allowed to enter, the blue becomes paler, and gradually changes to the colorless illumination of the ordinary air.
   The explanation of this occurrence is that the number of dust particles in ordinary air is so great that they reflect abundance of light of all wave-lengths, and thus cause the interior of the vessel containing them to appear illuminated with white light. The air containing no dust is entirely transparent as there is nothing in the cylinder to reflect the light which is sent through its center in a beam parallel rays, so that none of it strikes against the sides; therefore the inside of the cylinder appears absolutely dark. When only a few very small fragments of dust remain in the cylinder, a blue light appears, because these particles are so minute as to reflect chiefly the more refrangible rays, which are of shorter wave-length ---- those at the blue end of the spectrum, which are thus scattered in all directions, while the red and yellow rays pass straight on as before. 
   For those further interested in studying dust I suggest reading "The Adventures of a Grain of Dust" by Hallam Hawkesworth.

*            *            *              *                  *              *
QUIZ - - - - -- - - - - - - DEPARTMENT

1. How long will it take a train one mile long to go through a tunnel one mile long when traveling at a speed of one mile a minute?

2. Why don't we normally inhale the air which we have just exhaled?

3. What is the weight of sunlight daily falling on the earth?

4. Can two sounds produce silence?

Answers on page 21.

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PLUTO 11 IT'S BEEN PROVEN Most important things have their beginning or revolve about some small thing. Dust is one of the smallest things in the world and yet if it were not for dust we would not be able to see light; still, most people think of dust as being a nuisance. Dust is the cause of the sky and deep ocean being blue in color. Everyone has seen floating dust in a sunbeam when sunshine enters a partially darkened room; but it is not generally known that if there were absolutely no dust in the path of the sunbeam the path would be black and invisible, while if only very little dust were present in minute particles the air would be as blue as a summer sky. This was proved by passing a ray of electric light length-ways thought a glass cylinder filled with air of varying degrees of purity with regards to dust. In the air of an ordinary room the interior of the cylinder appears brilliantly illuminated. If the cylinder is exhausted and then filled with air which has been freed of dust particles, the light will pass through the cylinder without illuminating the cylinder, which viewed laterally, will appear as filled with a dense black cloud. If air containing dust particles is gradually allowed to enter the cylinder, a slight blue haze will appear, which will gradually become a pure blue, equal to that of a summer sky. If more and more dust particles are allowed to enter, the blue becomes paler, and gradually changes to the colorless illumination of the ordinary air. The explanation of this occurrence is that the number of dust particles in ordinary air is so great that they reflect abundance of light of all wave-lengths, and thus cause the interior of the vessel containing them to appear illuminated with white light. The air containing no dust is entirely transparent as there is nothing in the cylinder to reflect the light which is sent through its center in a beam parallel rays, so that none of it strikes against the sides; therefore the inside of the cylinder appears absolutely dark. When only a few very small fragments of dust remain in the cylinder, a blue light appears, because these particles are so minute as to reflect chiefly the more refrangible rays, which are of shorter wave-length ---- those at the blue end of the spectrum, which are thus scattered in all directions, while the red and yellow rays pass straight on as before. For those further interested in studying dust I suggest reading "The Adventures of a Grain of Dust" by Hallam Hawkesworth. * * * * * * QUIZ - - - - -- - - - - - - DEPARTMENT 1. How long will it take a train one mile long to go through a tunnel one mile long when traveling at a speed of one mile a minute? 2. Why don't we normally inhale the air which we have just exhaled? 3. What is the weight of sunlight daily falling on the earth? 4. Can two sounds produce silence? Answers on page 21.