The Chemical Action of Gaseous Ions Produced by Alpha Particles Viii. The Catalytic Influence of Ions of Inert Gases

Abstract

CATALYSIS BY INERT GAS IONS 1575 acetylene). The colorless liquid phase, of vapor pressure less than 1 mm., therefore, has the empirical formula (C2H3)*, indicating that the H:C ratio has been increased by the removal of C (from the cluster) in the form of carbon dioxide and monoxide. The preliminary ratio of -M(C2H, + o>)/-N (C2H1 + 0j) is indicated as about 27, considerably higher than for pure acetylene. Washington, D. C.

An Experimental Comparison of the Chemical Effects of Deuterons and of Alpha Particles on Methane and n-Butane.

“…This constancy of the AM/AN ratio, which at first was believed to be universally true, led to Lind's ion cluster theory, which postulates that the reaction is due exclusively to the ionization produced. In certain reactions, the ionization produced in foreign inert gases mixed with the reactants has to be included before consistent results are obtained (17). However, it turned out that the AM/AN ratios of some substances studied show a limited, sometimes even pronounced, dependence on external conditions (23).…”

The Efficiency of Argon as a Radiochemical Catalyst.

“…Furthermore the reaction proceeds uniformly to the point where as much as 96 per cent of the total ionization falls upon argon. Evidently the depletion effect has been eliminated; and the average -M/N ratio of 5.30 for the catalyzed reaction is in harmony with the 5.13 value for the normal synthesis (3, 6). Table 2 contains a summary of the carbon monoxide oxidation.…”

“…Detailed accounts of the normal reactions as well as of the argon catalyzed water synthesis have already appeared in the literature. Only summaries of the argon catalysis of the two other reactions have been published (6).…”

“…To test this possibility more fully, the existing data for reactions in which argon has been used as the inert gas have been considered more carefully from the point of view of fractional catalytic efficiency. For purposes of comparison with carbon dioxide, it is a happy coincidence that the three reactions in which the effect of the dioxide has been investigated have likewise been chosen by Lind and Bardwell (6) for a study of the argon effect.…”

“…Here, X is the fractional efficiency,1 Pcataiyst is the partial pressure of the 1 The term "efficiency" as used in this paper should not be confused with the term "per cent efficiency" as used by Lind and Bardwell (6). These authors define inert gas, and ¿cataiy8t and ¿reactant represent the molecular specific ionization (4) of the catalyst and reactant, respectively.…”