Reactions of energetic hydrogen atoms with simple hydrocarbons. Part 1.—The effect of moderators

Abstract

The reactions of recoil tritium atoms with ethane have been studied in the presence of N2 and CF4 moderators. The results suggest that collisional dissociation of excited HT, initially produced by direct reaction, may be more important in determining the ratio of final products than the commonly described effect of energy shadowing. It is suggested that hydrocarbons behave essentially as carbon atoms as far as their ability to collisionally dissociate HT is concerned, and that moderators which consist of groups which are similar in mass to carbon atoms, exert very little effect on observed product ratios.