Distribution Of Positive Ions Research Articles

Electron density at the Alouette orbit

Alouette topside soundings recorded at Stanford University have been used to determine the diurnal, seasonal, and latitudinal variations of electron density at the orbit of the satellite (∼1000 km) over a wide range of latitudes. The electron density is larger in summer than in winter by a factor of approximately 2 at the level of the satellite. The derived latitudinal distributions of electron density at the base of the exosphere are important to the theory of electron and positive ion distributions in the exosphere discussed in the companion paper by Angerami and Thomas.

Motion of Thin Bodies in a Highly Rarefied Plasma

Magnetic effects are considered negligible, and the velocity of the body is in a range between the electron and positive ion thermal speeds. The self-consistent field approach is used in which the electron distribution is assumed to be Maxwellian, while the positive ion distribution function is given by the ``collision-free'' Boltzmann equation. It is assumed that the ion reflection at the body surface is specular, and the body is sufficiently thin so that the ion distribution function is a small perturbation of a Maxwellian distribution. The solution for the simple case of a dielectric body with a given surface charge, as well as some general properties to be expected for a conducting body are given.

Ionization and dissociation of the trifluoromethyl halides by electron impact

Relative abundances and appearance potentials are reported for positive and negative ions observed in GF 4, CF3C1, CF3Br, and CF3I. The kinetic-energy distribution of positive ions is obtained by means of a beam-deflection technique. These data combined with that of recent thermochemical and spectroscopic studies permit a new calculation of the ionization potential of the CF 3 radical of 9.3 ±0.2 electron volts, as well as estimates of fluorocarbon bond-dissociation energies. The energetics of probable dissociation processes are discussed.