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Hydrates in binary sulfuric acid‐water vapor: Comparison of CIMS measurements with the Liquid‐Drop Model
Author(s) -
McGraw Robert,
Weber Rodney J.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/98gl02150
Subject(s) - sulfuric acid , nucleation , hydrate , drop (telecommunication) , water vapor , clathrate hydrate , chemistry , inorganic chemistry , mineralogy , analytical chemistry (journal) , materials science , thermodynamics , chromatography , organic chemistry , telecommunications , physics , computer science
We report calculations of the distribution of sulfuric acid‐water hydrates under atmospheric conditions using the liquid‐drop hydrate model. The model‐computed total acid concentrations (free acid plus hydrated acid) are compared with chemical ionization mass spectrometer (CIMS) measurements of total sulfuric acid vapor over solutions of varying concentration [ Marti et al , 1997] Results from this first direct comparison with experimental measurement suggest that the liquid‐drop model overestimates the extent of hydrate formation. We explore the consequences of this overestimation on binary sulfuric acid‐water nucleation rates, and on higher‐order multi‐component nucleation rates involving these and additional trace species in the atmosphere. In particular, it is found that over‐estimation of hydrate formation by the model can result in substantial underprediction of sulfuric acid‐water nucleation rates.