Retrospective of Charles Pence Slichter (NAS 1967)

Through experiments, scientists established the mathematical relationships between pairs of variables, such as pressure and temperature, pressure and volume, volume and temperature, and volume and moles, that hold for an ideal gas.

The test of the kinetic molecular theory (KMT) and its postulates is its ability to explain and describe the behavior of a gas. The various gas laws (Boyle’s, Charles’s, Gay-Lussac’s, Avogadro’s, and Dalton’s laws) can be derived from the assumptions of the KMT, which have led chemists to believe that the assumptions of the theory accurately represent the properties of gas molecules.

The “tree of life” describes the evolution of life and the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The root of the tree is the common ancestor to all life on Earth. All other species radiate from this point, much like the branches of a tree. The numerous tips of these branches on the tree of life represent every living, or extant, species. Extinct species, which are species that no longer exist, can be found towards the center of the tree. Currently, these organisms, both...