Abstract
WE have recently1,2 adapted the sodium-line reversal method of measuring temperature to make time-resolved studies behind shock waves, and have shown that in some cases departures from the calculated equilibrium temperature can be interpreted in terms of vibrational or dissociative relaxation processes. The sodium excitation temperature follows the effective vibrational temperature of the molecules, so that, if there is a lag in the partition of vibrational energy, the measured temperature is initially too low; and, if the vibration lag is short but there is a delay in attainment of dissociative equilibrium, the initial observed temperature is too high.
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HURLE, I., GAYDON, A. Vibrational Relaxation and Dissociation of Carbon Dioxide behind Shock Waves. Nature 184, 1858–1859 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/1841858a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1841858a0
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