A study of vibrational-rotational energy exchange in a shock tube

Abstract

Vibrational relaxation times have been measured in CO 2 + H 2 mixtures from 344 to 742 K by a laser-schlieren method. Normal and para hydrogen mixtures have been used. The scatter in the results is small and there is excellent agreement with a recent ultrasonic measurement at room temperature. The results are not in accord with the theoretical calculations of Sharma. They show that both rotational-vibrational and translational-vibrational energy transfer must be important for this case and throw light on the importance of rotational-vibrational energy transfer in other systems.