Electron capture by protons and electron loss from hydrogen atoms in collisions with hydrocarbon and hydrogen molecules in the 60–120 keV energy range

Abstract

Cross sections for electron capture by 60–120 keV protons and electron loss from 60–120 keV hydrogen atoms in collisions with molecular hydrogen, methane (CH4), acetylene (C2H2), ethylene (C2H4), ethane (C2H6), propylene (C3H6), and propane (C3H8) have been measured. We found that the capture and loss cross sections depend linearly on the number of carbon atoms and the number of hydrogen atoms in the target molecules, as predicted by the simple additivity rule. The success of the additivity rule allowed the extraction of effective electron capture and loss cross sections for atomic hydrogen and atomic carbon targets.