Part 766

<h1>Attractable</h1> <Xpage=99>

<hw>At*tract"a*ble</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>Capable of being attracted; subject to attraction.</def> -- <wordforms><wf>At*tract"a*ble*ness</wf>, <tt>n.</tt></wordforms>

<h1>Attracter</h1> <Xpage=99>

<hw>At*tract"er</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>One who, or that which, attracts.</def>

<h1>Attractile</h1> <Xpage=99>

<hw>At*tract"ile</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>Having power to attract.</def>

<h1>Attracting</h1> <Xpage=99>

<hw>At*tract"ing</hw>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>That attracts.</def> -- <wordforms><wf>At*tract"ing*ly</wf>, <tt>adv.</tt></wordforms>

<h1>Attraction</h1> <Xpage=99>

<hw>At*trac"tion</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>attractio</ets>: cf. F. <ets>attraction</ets>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <fld>(Physics)</fld> <def>An invisible power in a body by which it draws anything to itself; the power in nature acting mutually between bodies or ultimate particles, tending to draw them together, or to produce their cohesion or combination, and conversely resisting separation.</def>

<note>&hand; <i>Attraction</i> is exerted at both <i>sensible</i> and <i>insensible</i> distances, and is variously denominated according to its qualities or phenomena. Under attraction at <i>sensible</i> distances, there are, --

<subtypes>(1.) <col>Attraction of gravitation</col>, which acts at all distances throughout the universe, with a force proportional directly to the product of the masses of the bodies and inversely to the square of their distances apart.

(2.) <mcol><col>Magnetic</col>, <col>diamagnetic</col>, and <col>electrical attraction</col></mcol>, each of which is limited in its sensible range and is polar in its action, a property dependent on the <i>quality</i> or <i>condition</i> of matter, and not on its quantity.

Under attraction at <i>insensible</i> distances, there are, --

(1.) <col>Adhesive attraction</col>, attraction between surfaces of sensible extent, or by the medium of an intervening substance.

(2.) <col>Cohesive attraction</col>, attraction between ultimate particles, whether like or unlike, and causing simply an aggregation or a union of those particles, as in the absorption of gases by charcoal, or of oxygen by spongy platinum, or the process of solidification or crystallization. The power in adhesive attraction is strictly the same as that of cohesion.

(3.) <col>Capillary attraction</col>, attraction causing a liquid to rise, in capillary tubes or interstices, above its level outside, as in very small glass tubes, or a sponge, or any porous substance, when one end is inserted in the liquid. It is a special case of cohesive attraction.

(4.) <col>Chemical attraction</col>, or <col>affinity</col>, that peculiar force which causes elementary atoms, or groups of atoms, to unite to form molecules.</subtypes> </note>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>The act or property of attracting; the effect of the power or operation of attraction.</def>

<i>Newton.</i>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>The power or act of alluring, drawing to, inviting, or engaging; an attractive quality; <as>as, the <ex>attraction</ex> of beauty or eloquence</as>.</def>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>That which attracts; an attractive object or feature.</def>

<syn>Syn. -- Allurement; enticement; charm.</syn>

<h1>Attractive</h1> <Xpage=99>

<hw>At*tract"ive</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[Cf. F. <ets>attractif</ets>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Having the power or quality of attracting or drawing; <as>as, the <ex>attractive</ex> force of bodies</as>.</def>

<i>Sir I. Newton.</i>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Attracting or drawing by moral influence or pleasurable emotion; alluring; inviting; pleasing.</def> "<i>Attractive</i> graces." <i>Milton</i>. "<i>Attractive</i> eyes."

<i>Thackeray.</i>