In general analytical work the standard solution contains the equivalent weight of the substance in grammes dissolved in a litre of water.
This law-purely empirical in origin-was strengthened by Berzelius, who redetermined many specific heats, and applied the law to determine the true atomic weight from the equivalent weight.
The equivalent weight is capable of fairly ready determination, but the settlement of the second factor is somewhat more complex, and in this direction the law of atomic heats is of service.
Taking the chemical equivalent weight of silver, as determined by chemical experiments, to be 107.92, the result described gives as the electrochemical equivalent of an ion of unit chemical equivalent the value 1 036 X 5.
If, as is now usual, we take the equivalent weight of oxygen as our standard and call it 16, the equivalent weight of hydrogen is I o08, and its electrochemical equivalent is I 044 X 5.
