Shock-Tube Measurement of the Rate of Dissociation of Nitrogen

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Abstract
The rate of dissociation of nitrogen behind strong shock waves in nitrogen—argon mixtures was determined using time‐resolved interferometric measurements of gas density. Dissociation rates for impact by N2, N, and Ar were found by varying the mixture composition from 5% N2 to 100% N2. Temperatures from 6000° to 9000°K were covered in the experiments. The effectiveness of the N atom in causing N2 dissociation was found to be more than that of the N2 molecule by a factor of 10 to 15, whereas that of the argon atom was found to be less than that of N2 by a factor of 2.5. A large discrepancy between these results and those reported recently by Cary is partially resolved by an alternative interpretation of his data. A difficulty in fitting all of the data by using a single set of rate constants is described and several possible explanations are suggested.