Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series A Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character · 1913 · 17 citations · 0 references
Natural SciencesPhysicsChemical KineticsRadiation PhysicsRecombinationRadiation Transport In MatterRadioactive DecaySecond Law Of ThermodynamicsIon DiffusionIon RecombinationIon-ion CollisionsRadiation Transport In GasesRecombination Coefficients
Abstract In a space containing both positive and negative ions the concentration of tends ions tends to diminish as a result of the union of ions of opposite sign. The number of ions of each sign which disappear in unit time is proportional to the number of collisions between ions of opposite sign. This is proportional to the product of the concentrations of the two kinds of ions and it is customary to express the change in the form of the equation dn1/dt = —αn1n2 = dn2/dt, where n1 and n2 are the numbers of positive and negative ions respectively in unit volume, and α is a constant for a gas at a given temperature and pressure; α is called the coefficient of recombination of the ions. When the concentrations of the two kinds of ions are equal the equation takes the simple form dn/dt = —αn2, the solution of which is n0 being the concentration of the ions initially, and n the concentration after an interval of time t. In what has been said above the effect of diffusion is supposed to be negligible.