Open AccessThe charges on positive and negative ions in gases
Publication year - 1908
Publication title -
proceedings of the royal society of london. series a, containing papers of a mathematical and physical character
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2053-9150
pISSN - 0950-1207
DOI - 10.1098/rspa.1908.0017
Subject(s) - ion , electrolyte , charge (physics) , diffusion , chemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , atomic physics , electric field , physics , thermodynamics , electrode , chromatography , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics
In a paper on the Diffusion of Ions in Gases, I described a method of comparing the charges on the ions generated in gases with the charge on an ion in a liquid electrolyte. If N be the number of molecules in a cubic centimetre of a gas at standard pressure and temperature, ande the charge on an ion, then N .e = 3∙108 . U / K, where U is the velocity of an ion in a field of unit electric force and K the coefficient of diffusion. Thus from separate determinations of the quantities U and K, the product N .e can be obtained. If E is the charge on a monovalent ion in a liquid electrolyte, N . E = 1∙23 x 1010 , so that a comparison of the various charges may be made, and the calculations have shown that the charge on a positive or negative ion in a gas is nearly equal to the charge E. There were, however, considerable discrepancies, particularly with positive ions, which gave values of N .e as great as 1∙66 x 1010 in some cases.