Erratum: Limits of detection for condensation nuclei counters [J. Appl. Phys. 52, 3062 (1981)

Abstract

This Communication is reprinted in its entirety because the text was disorganized in the original printing. Physical limits restrict the numbers of nuclei that can be detected by cloud chambers and condensation nuclei counters (CNC’s) to about 108–109/cm3. Thus larger numbers will not be detected even when supersaturation s reaches sufficient levels to activate them, e.g., s∼4.85 for Wilson’s ’’cloudlike’’ nuclei from starting temperatures near 0 °C. Recent evidence suggests that water vapor and moist air contain more than 109/cm3 of neutral molecular complexes (water clusters), which were the ’’nuclei’’ observed by Wilson. Thus their true populations cannot be determined by cloud chambers or CNC’s, but they can be inferred by their infrared absorption, suggesting the interesting possibility of an infrared cloud chamber.