Ion Content of Moist Atmospheric Air and the Molecular Structure of Water Vapor Thus Inferred
Abstract
A great deal of multidisciplinary research, reported in the open literature, suggests that even the cleanest water vapor is not simply a collection of single water molecules (monomers) as is popularly supposed, but also contains vast populations of molecular aggregates of clusters especially under conditions of high humidity. These water clusters include not only collision-induced, Boltzmann-distributed dimers, trimers, etc., but also a preponderance of much larger evaporatively-produced clusters that are extensively hydrogen bonded and thus from equilibrium populations in the vapor. The question of the extent of such clustering in the vapor versus temperature and humidity has been investigated in rigorous new measurements of the electrical conductivity of moist air. The ion populations measured in the vapor give excellent agreement with those predicted by equations developed from first principles of kinetic theory. These ion populations are dissociative products of the large clusters. Keywords: Moist Air; Water Vapor; Ions; Water Clusters; Hydrogen bonding; Electrical Conductivity; Nucleation; Evaporation; Infrared.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA199732
Entities
People
- Hugh R. Carlon
Organizations
- Edgewood Chemical Biological Center