Molecular beam reactions of potassium atoms with ZnCl2, ZnI2, CdI2, HgBr2, and HgI2

Abstract

The reactions of K atoms with ZnCl2, ZnI2, CdI2, HgBr2, and HgI2 have been studied in crossed molecular beams. Angular and velocity distributions of the potassium halide products were obtained over wide ranges. The angular distributions indicate that the reactions proceed through long-lived complexes for some cases and through ``osculating complexes'' for others. The velocity distributions are compared to approximate results from phase space theories.