Abstract
MEASUREMENTS on carbon dioxide, carbon disulphide, sulphur dioxide, and ethylene show that the dispersion of sound in these gases is sensitive to pressure. In each case the dispersive region shifts to higher frequencies with increasing pressures or, conversely, the velocity of sound at a given frequency increases as the pressure is diminished until a constant value is attained. At 30° C. and 451,000 cycles sec.-1, for example, the velocity of sound is constant in carbon dioxide below about 350 mm., in carbon disulphide below about 100 mm., and in ethylene below about 40 mm. The corresponding heat capacity ratios are 1.4 for carbon dioxide,1 1.4 for carbon disulphide, and nearly 1.33 for ethylene; thus in each case only translational and rotational terms continue to participate in the sound wave under these conditions. In sulphur dioxide at 200 mm. the dispersion between 94 and 451 k.c. is only about 1.2 m. sec.-1 at 30° C., indicating that frequencies above the present experimental range are necessary to demonstrate by the acoustical method that sulphur dioxide is not a linear molecule.
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RICHARDS, W., REID, J. Dispersion of Sound in Several Gases, and its Relation to the Frequency of Molecular Collisions. Nature 130, 739 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/130739b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/130739b0
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