Shock Wave Studies by Mass Spectrometry. I. Thermal Decomposition of Nitrous Oxide

Abstract

An apparatus is described in which the reacting gas behind a reflected shock wave is sampled continuously and analyzed at intervals of 50 or 100 μsec by a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The thermal decomposition of N2O in the temperature range 1780–2000°K has been used as a test case to demonstrate that the experimental technique is valid. It has also been shown that the mechanism and rate constants of this reaction at high temperatures are consistent with earlier measurements at much lower temperature.