Abstract
IN a recent letter, Asundi, Singh and Singh1 have described effects observed with a so-called reversible discharge tube. The phenomena recorded appear to be most easily explained by assuming that the discharge tube leaked slightly. This would account for the appearance of the hydrogen spectrum when the tube was freshly swept out with hydrogen, the appearance of nitrogen bands after standing, and the reappearance of the hydrogen spectrum on continuous running, the nitrogen being cleaned up by the aluminium electrodes, a well-known effect which is commonly made use of in hydrogen discharge tubes. The cleaning up would not occur so readily with external electrodes, and hence the discharge tube would be expected to continue to show nitrogen bands.
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NATURE, 149, 22 (1942).
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GAYDON, A. A Reversible Discharge Tube. Nature 149, 112 (1942). https://doi.org/10.1038/149112b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/149112b0
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