Association reactions at low pressure. III. The C2H2+/C2H2 system.

The association reactions, C4H2(+) + C2H2 and C4H3(+) + C2H2 have been examined at pressures between 8 x 10(-8) and 1 x 10(-4) Torr at 298 K in an ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer. Association occurred via two different mechanisms. At pressures below approximately 2 x 10(-6) Torr, the association was bimolecular having rate coefficients k2 = 2.7 x 10(-10) cm3 s-1 and 2.0 x 10(-10) cm3 s-1 for C4H2+ and C4H3+, respectively. At pressures above approximately 2 x 10(-6) Torr, termolecular association was observed with rate coefficients, k3 = 5.7 x 10(-23) cm6 s-1 and 1.3 x 10(-23) cm6 s-1 for C4H2+ and C4H3+, respectively, when M = C2H2. The termolecular rate constants with N2, Ar, Ne, and He as the third body, M, are also reported. We propose that the low pressure bimolecular association process was the result of radiative stabilization of the complex and the termolecular association process was the result of collisional stabilization. Elementary rate coefficients were obtained and the lifetime of the collision complex was > or = 57 microseconds for (C6H4+)* and > or = 18 microseconds for (C6H5+)*. At pressures below 1 x 10(-6) Torr, approximately 11% of the (C6H4+)* were stabilized by photon emission and the remaining approximately 89% reverted back to reactants, while approximately 24% of the (C6H5+)* were stabilized by photon emission and the remaining approximately 76% reverted back to reactants. The ionic products of the C2H2(+) + C2H2 reaction, C4H2+ and C4H3+, were found to be formed with enough internal energy that they did not react by the radiative association channel until relaxed by several nonreactive collisions with the bath gas.

Evidence for methane and ammonia in the coma of comet P/Halley.

Methane and ammonia abundances in the coma of Halley are derived from Giotto IMS data using an Eulerian model of chemical and physical processes inside the contact surface to simulate Giotto HIS ion mass spectral data for mass-to-charge ratios (m/q) from 15 to 19. The ratio m/q = 19/18 as a function of distance from the nucleus is not reproduced by a model for a pure water coma. It is necessary to include the presence of NH3, and uniquely NH3, in coma gases in order to explain the data. A ratio of production rates Q(NH3)/Q(H2O) = 0.01-0.02 results in model values approximating the Giotto data. Methane is identified as the most probable source of the distinct peak at m/q = 15. The observations are fit best with Q(CH4)/Q(H2O) = 0.02. The chemical composition of the comet nucleus implied by these production rate ratios is unlike that of the outer planets. On the other hand, there are also significant differences from observations of gas phase interstellar material.

Magnetic resonance studies of lunar samples.

Electron spin resonance searches at 9.5 gigahertz on several fines samples and portions of several rocks have yielded signals whose lineshapes and temperature dependences show that the samples are principally ferromagnetic in nature. Proton magnetic resonance searches at 60 megahertz of these samples have not revealed any signals ascribable to water or any other types of hydrogen in concentrations greater than 0.0001 percent by weight contained in narrow lines (5 oersteds wide or less) and 0.01 percent by weight in wide lines (as wide as 100 oersteds).