Homogeneous nucleation rate measurements of 1-butanol in helium: A comparative study of a thermal diffusion cloud chamber and a laminar flow diffusion chamberThe effect of carrier gas pressure and wall heating on the operation of the thermal diffusion cloud chamberThe influence of buoyant convection on the operation of the upward thermal diffusion cloud nucleation chamber J. Chem. Phys. 111, 8013 (1999); 10.1063/1.480274Homogeneous nucleation rates of n-pentanol measured in an upward thermal diffusion cloud chamber Recent measurements of critical supersaturations for the vapor phase homogeneous nucleation of several substances using a diffusion cloud chamber technique exhibit a dependence on the pressure of the carrier gas used in the experiments. A model of droplet growth and motion in a diffusion cloud chamber, combined with the density and temperature profiles of the chamber is presented to explain the pressure dependent results. The model demonstrates that at higher carrier gas pressures the growth of the droplets is retarded and the optical scattering signal from the particles is reduced. It is concluded that the observed effect may not result from a pressure dependence of the nucleation rate, but from a pressure dependence of the droplet growth and motion.