Poiseuille Plasma Experiment

Abstract

The flow of gas and electric current simultaneously through a tube provides an experimental arrangement for the study of the flow of high‐temperature gases capable of precision measurements and a precise mathematical theory. The precision experimental technique and some initial experimental results together with a simplified theory are presented in this paper. Mean electrical conductivities and kinematic viscosities are given for a number of gases. The arc performance is shown to be predictable with fair precision by a very simple discontinuous model of the plasma properties which is capable of wide exploitation in magnetohydrodynamics.