Newtonium

The concept of world ether was developed in the middle of the XIX century in the framework of wave optics and Maxwell's electromagnetic theory . World ether began to be seen as a hypothetical all-pervasive entity that fills world space and transmits light, heat and gravity ^[1] .

Obviously, the question of the chemical nature of the ether remained open: it had to consist of the lightest, absolutely inert elements, whose atoms could not be held by gravitational forces. Neither the lightest known element, hydrogen , nor hypothetical coronium categorically suited this role. Thus, the concept of world ether turned out to be closely related to the solution of the problem of the lower boundary of the periodic system of chemical elements .

The gravity problem and the tasks of the entire energy sector cannot be imagined really solved without a real understanding of the ether as a global medium that transfers energy over distances. A real understanding of the ether cannot be achieved by ignoring its chemistry and not considering it an elementary substance .

- Mendeleev D.I. An attempt at a chemical understanding of the world ether. SPb., 1905

D.I. Mendeleev, having discovered the Periodic Law , understood that the phenomenon of periodicity had no physical justification, and did not see direct paths leading to its search. Even in his early work on periodicity, Mendeleev suggested that ether could be a specific state of gases with a large vacuum or a special gas with a very low weight. The discovery of inert gases at the end of the 19th century actualized the issue of the essence of chemical elements. At the suggestion of William Ramzai, Mendeleev forms the zero group of the periodic table, but also leaves room for elements lighter than hydrogen. According to Mendeleev, the group of inert gases could be supplemented with coronium and an even lighter, yet unknown element. Mendeleev expressed his thoughts in the article “An Attempt at a Chemical Understanding of the World Ether” (1902, published in 1905) and the 8th edition of the textbook “Fundamentals of Chemistry” (1906).

If the argon analogues do not give compounds at all, then it is obvious that not one of the groups of previously known elements can be included, and a special group zero must be opened for them ... This position of the argon analogs in the zero group is a strictly logical consequence of understanding the periodic law ... Now, when it began to be beyond the slightest doubt that before the first group in which hydrogen should be placed, there is a zero group, the representatives of which have atomic weights less than that of the elements of the first group, it seems to me impossible to deny to appreciate the existence of elements lighter than hydrogen .
... in the last modification of the distribution of elements by groups and series, I add not only the zero group, but also the zero series, and the element x is put in its place in the zero group and in the zero series ( I would like to call it “Newtonia” in honor of the immortal Newton ), which I decide to consider, firstly, the softest of all elements, both in density and atomic weight, secondly, the fastest moving gas, thirdly, the least capable of forming with any other atoms or particles defined any full-time connections, and, fourthly, an element that is widespread and penetrating everywhere, like the world ether.

- Mendeleev D.I. An attempt at a chemical understanding of the world ether. SPb., 1905

Mendeleev gave his calculations of the mass of the Newtonian atom, based on "the ability of moving particles to escape from the sphere of gravity of the earth, the sun and stars ." According to the scientist’s calculations, it can fluctuate within 9.6 · 10 ⁻⁷ to 5.3 · 10 ⁻¹¹ from the mass of the hydrogen atom: “ ... to understand many phenomena, it’s quite enough to admit for now that particles and atoms of the lightest element x , which can move freely everywhere, "have a weight close to one millionth of the weight of a hydrogen atom, and move at an average speed close to 2250 kilometers per second ."

It should be noted that neither in the article cited above, nor in the 7th and 8th edition of the Fundamentals of Chemistry, Mendeleev included Newtonium and Coronium in the attached periodic tables, recognizing the obvious lack of experimental evidence of their reality. Despite the speculative orientation of the initial assumptions, the main and most important result in the field of physics, obtained thanks to them by D. I. Mendeleev, was the derivation of the ideal gas equation .

The hypothesis of the existence of newtonia has lost its relevance along with ideas about the world ether after the advent of the special theory of relativity and the creation of a quantum-mechanical model of the atom . By the 1930s, the problem of “ether” no longer existed in science, just as the question of elements was lighter than hydrogen. Repeated attempts by individual scientists to revive the concept of ether in one form or another (for example, to connect ether with a physical vacuum ) were unsuccessful. It should be considered speculative and without any reason to publish that the Mendeleev hypothesis of Newtonia is nothing more than brilliant foresight of either the discovery of a neutrino or a photon .

• Ether (physics)
• Coronius
• List of non-existent chemical elements
• Mendeleev's predicted elements
• List of objects named after Isaac Newton

• Mendeleev D.I. Fundamentals of Chemistry, VIII edition. St. Petersburg, 1906.
• Mendeleev D.I.An attempt of a chemical understanding of the world ether. SPb., 1905