The emission of electrons under the influence of chemical action. Part II.—Some general conclusions and a further study of the case of carbonyl chloride

Abstract

We have now investigated this effcet on the sodium potassium alloy K 2 Na for 22 different gases. With 15 of these tbs emission has been found to be sufficiently large for the distribution of kinetic energy among the emitted electrons to be determined, using the reacting gases at pressures of the order of 10 -5 mm of mercury. As a result of these experiments we have been led to some general conclusions, the most important of which we propose to state, very briefly, at the outset. They are:— (1) The energy distribution is not in general of the Maxwellian type as the earlier evidence bad tended to indicate. We expressed a suspicion of the correctness of this view on p. 49 of our previous paper. The later experiments have confirmed that suspicion.