Reactions of Metastable Nitrogen Atoms

Abstract

The line absorption technique was applied to the kinetic study of the two metastable atomic nitrogen states N (22D) and N (22P) in a flowing afterglow system. The optical absorptions of the NI 1493-Å (2p32D−3s2P) and 1743-Å (2p32D−3s2P) transitions were used for the quantitative measurement of N (22D) and N (22P) concentrations. Deactivation of N (2D) and N (2P) by the Pyrex tube wall was found to be very efficient, i.e., occurs at nearly every collision. The second-order rate constants at 300°K for the removal of N (2D) by O2, N2O, CO2, NO, N2, Ar, and He were found to be (6±2)×10−12, (3.5±1.2)×10−12, (5±2)×10−13, (7±2.5)×10−11, (1.6±0.7)×10−14, (1±0.6)×10−16, and ≤ 1.6×10−16 cm3 sec−1, respectively. It was established that the process for the first three reactant gases results in chemical reaction rather than physical quenching.