The emission of electrons under the influence of chemical action. Part III.—The action of Cl 2 , Br 2 , I 2 , NOCl, HCl, N 2 O, and COS on NaK 2

Abstract

The two preceding papers, which will be referred to in the sequal as Part I and Part II, dealt chiefly with a detailed investigation of the electron emission when the liquid alloy of sodium and potassium of the composition NaK 2 is acted on by Phosgene (COCl 2 ). The latter substance was chosen for this purpose mainly because it is comparatively easy to manipulate on account of its extremely low vapour pressure at the temperature of liquid air and almost atmospheric pressure at room temperatures. A number of the conclusions in Part II were based on the results of unpublished experiments with other gaseous reagents. Some of these are described in the present paper. After the completion of most of the experiments described in Part I and Part II the further investigation of the phenomenon of chemical electron emission was directed towards clearing up (1) the effect of the mechanism of the chemical reaction; (2) the connection between the amount of energy available in the reaction and the energy of the electrons emitted; and (3) the changes caused by varying the nature of the molecules taking part in the reaction.