Abstract
KNAUER and Stern (Zs. f. Phys., 39, 775) have recently investigated the relation between the intensity of a beam of mercury molecules and the pressure in the oven or source chamber. They have found that the intensity of the beam increased uniformly with the oven pressure, until the mean free path in the oven was about equal to the width of the oven slit. At this pressure the beam had a maximum intensity, becoming less intense as the oven pressure was increased above this optimum value. As an explanation of this maximum, they have suggested that the molecules emerging from the slit, at pressures greater than the optimum pressure, collide with one another, giving rise to the formation of a cloud in front of the slit. Instead of originating in the slit itself, the beam then has its source in this diffuse surface of low intensity.
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JOHNSON, T. Intensities of Molecular Beams. Nature 119, 745–746 (1927). https://doi.org/10.1038/119745b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/119745b0
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