Abstract
According to the theory of the continuity of liquid and gaseous states, as expressed for instance in van der Waals' equation, pronounced density differences may exist in a short column of fluid maintained, throughout its length, at the critical temperature. The point in the tube at which the density of the contents has decreased a given percentage from the critical value is the higher the larger the ratio of the critical temperature to molecular weight. For substances like neon the variations are so large that a measurable separation of isotopes may be expected at or near the critical point; for other substances the computed results are at least of the magnitude found by experiment. Also, according to the theory, in order to obtain, at or near the critical point, a column of gas of uniform density a temperature gradient must be allowed to exist along the column.

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