English

Allmendinger Thomas

doi:10.5897/ijps2016.4500

Abstract

In contrast to the usual spectroscopic methods, the temperature of a gas embedded in a tube was measured here and not the intensity loss of the radiation. In order to minimize the interference by the tube, light-weight building materials were used, preferably Styrofoam, transparent plastic foils and aluminium foils. Sunlight as well as infrared (IR)-bulbs was employed as radiation sources, whereby near-IR is predominant and not medium-IR as it is usually assumed. Different gases were tested, not only air and carbon-dioxide but also the noble gases argon, helium and neon. In each case, a temperature increase was detected up to a limiting value. While the warming-up rate was independent of the gas type, the limiting temperature turned out to be gas-specific. Surprisingly and contrary to the expectation of the greenhouse theory, the limiting temperatures of air, pure carbon-dioxide and argon were nearly equal while the light gases neon, and particularly helium, exhibited significant lower limiting temperatures. Applying the kinetic gas theory, and assuming a direct correlation between limiting temperature and radiative emission power, a stringent dependency of the product on mean kinetic energy and collision frequency could be deduced. Moreover, the adsorption degree could be calculated, turning out to be very low. The absorption was assumed as a result of vibration of the atomic electron shell, induced by the electromagnetic waves. Comparing the results in sunlight to those obtained in artificial light, the effective wavelength could be assessed delivering the value of 1.9 μm. Therefore, the greenhouse theory has to be questioned. Key words: Solar-tube, gas-temperature, radiation-absorption, radiation-emission, kinetic-gas-theory, near-infrared, carbon-dioxide.

Highlights

The starting point of this research was the generally accepted greenhouse theory which assumes that the recent climate change is mainly due to the growing amount of the so-called greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, of carbon dioxide
Unlike in the case of solar radiation, in the case of artificial radiation the limiting temperatures at the three measuring positions differed more or less, depending on the texture of the tube
This study describes a method employing one or two comparatively large tubes from Styrofoam, preferably mirrored by aluminium foils, and being covered on both ends with thin plastic foils

Summary

Introduction

The starting point of this research was the generally accepted greenhouse theory which assumes that the recent climate change is mainly due to the growing amount of the so-called greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, of carbon dioxide. This theory takes its source in the comparison of the Earth atmosphere with the glass of a green house, made by Fourier (1827), first advocated by Tyndall (1863) and by Arrhenius (1896, 1901).

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Conclusion