Programska knjižica - Hrvatsko filozofsko društvo

HOW TO USE BOSCOVICH’S THEORY
IN MODERN PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY
Nobel prize winner W. Heisenberg wrote in 1958 that Boscovich in his
Theory gave “a key to the understanding of the structure of matter”. This was
repeated in 1993 by Nobel laureate L. Lederman’s statement that Theory is
“a key to the entire modern physics”. The aim of this work is to elucidate this
“key” and to show how it can be used in modern physics and chemistry.
Structure of fluids: Modern physics cannot provide an accurate description
of the structure of fluids (i.e. liquids and real gases). This is a huge problem,
since many physical, chemical and other processes are performed in them.
According to Boscovich, the interaction between particles in fluids can be described
by a “force-distance” curve that has two cohesion limits and one noncohesion
limit. Some particles are at nearer, but some at more distant limits.
Hence, fluids are the mixtures of two phases, having different densities. Each
phase contributes to the overall properties of liquid proportionally to its quantity.
But, what are these phases like, and what are their quantities? We proved
for 143 substances that Boscovich’s limits of cohesion and non-cohesion correspond
to some well known characteristic states of matter, from ideal gas to
solid phase at absolute zero temperature. We described the structure of fluids in
these states and developed a mathematical expression to calculate the densities
and the fractions of the individual phases in fluids. Hence, we have applied this
concept to solve the following problems.
Ethylene polymerization: It was discovered in 1933 that gaseous ethylene
can be polymerized only if it was compressed above 1000 bars. Thus, a very
useful plastics, polyethylene, is produced. Why is extremely high pressure necessary?
It was proposed that compressed ethylene molecules were regularly arranged.
But how? Most extensive research provided no answers to these questions.
We answered them in the late 1970s by applying the limits of cohesion
and non-cohesion suggested by Boscovich.
Polyethylene melting: By knowing how compressed ethylene molecules
were arranged, we used the law of continuity published by Boscovich in 1754
to predict the effect of pressure on melting temperature of polyethylene.
Methylmethacrylate (MMA) polymerization: Using Boscovich’s Theory
and the mentioned mathematical expression, we interpreted the structure of
liquid MMA, theoretically predicted and experimentally confirmed its polymerization.
Density of solar planets: According to Boscovich, there are different forces
in nature, but they are changed by a unique law, described by Boscovich’s
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