Darrell V. Sickman

Studies on the Decomposition of Azomethane II. Pure Azomethane and Azomethane in the Presence of Helium

In §§1–5 data on the decomposition of azomethane are presented and compared with those obtained by Ramsperger, with which they do not entirely agree. In §6 the possible effect of self‐heating of the reacting gas is considered. In §7 some modifications in the theory of unimolecular reactions, called for if only partial deactivation occurs at collision, are discussed and found not to be of importance. The theory is applied to the present data and the pressure dependence of the rate seems to fit the theory better than was the case with Ramspergers data. In §8 the effect of helium is discussed. It activates azomethane, being 0.120 as effective as azomethane itself. In §9 the possibility of the azomethane decomposition being a chain reaction is considered. It is concluded that if it is a chain reaction the chain is very short and its length is independent of temperature and pressure over the range studied in this research.

Studies on the Decomposition of Azomethane III. Effect of Various Inert Gases

Data are presented on the decomposition of azomethane in the presence of several inert gases, relative activation efficiencies being given in Table II. The low efficiency of helium as compared to the other gases is taken as indicating that exchange of vibrational energy between molecules is more probable than the transition of translational into vibrational energy. The results are compared with other pertinent data, and the probable mechanism of energy exchange is discussed. Finally, some preliminary data on the effect of azomethane on reactive gases are given.

Studies on the Decomposition of Azomethane I. Description of the Apparatus

An apparatus for measuring the rates of gaseous reactions in the presence of large excesses of inert gases, using an adaptation of the Huygens manometer as the pressure measuring device, is described.