XII. The supersaturation and nuclear condensation of certain organic vapours

Abstract

The first precise measurements of the conditions causing condensation when dust-free air saturated with water vapour is expanded were made by C. T. R. Wilson. He calculated the cooling due to the adiabatic expansion, and then the supersaturation, which is the ratio of the actual pressure of the water vapour at the end of the expansion to the saturated vapour pressure of water at the temperature at the end of the expansion.