The Effect of Electric Fields on the Decomposition of Ethane by Alpha-Rays

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Abstract
In the decomposition of ethane by alpha‐rays the reaction is largely initiated by splitting of molecules on ionization and by splitting of molecules without ionization on electron collision. The application of even a weak electric field results in an increased ion yield in ethane, a phenomenon which has not been observed in other gases studied by this method, and this is attributed to inhibition by the field of a reaction involving ions which decreases the amount of non‐condensed gas produced. The application of higher fields results in another increase in the ion yield due to the collisions of electrons accelerated by the field which cause splitting with or without attachment. At the lower pressure, a final constancy of the ion yield at high fields can be attributed to the final attachment of all of the free electrons to molecular fragments. The reaction at the higher pressure was not followed to sufficiently high values of X/p to exhibit the same high field effect.