Absolute spectral intensities of some unstable chemical species

Abstract

Unstable chemical species may exist briefly, as transients, in temperature regimes where their radiative properties are of interest (e.g., O 3 at atmospheric pressure and T = 2000° K). In wavelength regimes where the reaction products (e.g., O 3 and O) are transparent tothe radiation of the unstable molecule, quantitative deduction of the spectral radiancy may be made. The suggested technique involves a series of flame-theoretical calculations coupled with a series of simple measurements of the total spectral power radiated by each of a series of laboratory flames.