Part 1. An Investigation of Relaxation Processes. Part 2. Studies in Combustion

Citation

Jacobs, Theodore Alan (1960) Part 1. An Investigation of Relaxation Processes. Part 2. Studies in Combustion. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/9YND-DS33. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-10042005-105327

Abstract

Part 1 I. The rate of the homogeneous thermal decomposition of NH3 in NH3-Ar mixtures has been measured in a shock tube by monitoring the radiation emitted by the NH3 in the 3 micron wavelength region. For the temperature range 2000-3000ºK an apparent activation energy of about 52 Kcal was found. II. The vibrational relaxation of isothermal, dilute gas mixtures after excitation by an external radiation field has been investigated, leading to a proposed experiment for the measurement of collision transition probabilities. Part 2 I. A review of recent papers in the field of combustion has been prepared for the 1960 Edition of Annual Reviews of Physical Chemistry. II. An approximate theoretical performance evaluation for a diverging rocket has been performed. A paper describing the evaluation has been published in Astronautics Acta.

Thesis Files