The absorption spectrum of nitrous-oxide and the heat of dissociation of nitrogen

Abstract

Abstract In some previous papers it has been shown by the author and others that saturated compounds of most substances in the vapour state show continuous absorption. A typical example is SO3-vapour, which was recently studied by the author and which enabled him to make an accurate estimation of the heat of dissociation of oxygen. In the present work, the absorption spectrum of N2O was investigated with a view to determining the heat of dissociation of nitrogen. Leifson was the first to investigate the absorption spectrum of N2O gas and found that the gas shows no selective absorption in the Schumann region. He states that the absorption is in the form of two continuous bands, the first extending from λ 2000 to λ 1680 and the second from λ 1550 beyond the range of observation. Recently Wulf and Melvin showed that when N2O is illuminated with light of wave-length λ 2300, it is decomposed photochemically into NO and N; they also noticed that N2O possesses no band absorption.