Latent Energy and Dissociation in Flame Gases

Abstract

THE gases remaining after flame has spread through an inflammable mixture are not just hot normal gases. The view has been put forward¹ that they contain a considerable latent energy in stable form. This probably resides in a proportion of the newly formed triatomic molecules as excess intra-molecular energy which cannot be handed over to the translational degrees of freedom. In virtue of the excess intra-molecular energy, it would appear that there is a much larger dissociation in flame gases than in normal gases of the same composition under similar conditions of temperature and pressure.