Abstract
NUMEROUS workers during the past thirty years have made measurements of the absorption of ultrasound in the lighter gases (that is, oxygen and gases of lower density). The majority of the workers used interferometric techniques developed from that described by Hubbard1 ; a smaller group used optical methods2. An examination of absorption values obtained for the lighter gases shows that both the discrepancies between results of different workers and the range of results of individual workers are such that it is difficult to deduce any reliable data : few give any estimate of the possible errors in their results. Although Pumper3, Krasnooshkin4 and Bell5 have shown that the acoustic interferometer may produce anomalous results, due to effects not previously considered, this fact has apparently not been fully appreciated. It would seem that the best published results using these techniques cannot be relied upon to better than ± 20 per cent.
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References
Hubbard, J. C., Phys. Rev., 38, 1011 (1931) ; 41, 523 (1932) ; 46, 525 (1934).
For example, Keller, H. H., Phys. Z., 41, 386 (1940).
Pumper, E. J., J. Phys. U.S.S.R., 1, 411 (1939).
Krasnooshkin, P. E., Phys. Rev., 65, 190 (1944).
Bell, J. F. W., Proc. Phys. Soc., B, 63, 958 (1950).
Parker, J. G., Adams, C. E., and Stavseth, R. M., J. Acoust. Soc. Amer., 25, 263 (1953).
For example, see Markham, J. J., Beyer, R. T., and Lindsay, R. B., Rev. Mod. Phys., 23, 391 (1951).
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TEMPEST, W., PARBROOK, H. Absorption of Ultrasound in Light Gases. Nature 177, 181 (1956). https://doi.org/10.1038/177181a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/177181a0
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