Absorption Spectrum of Rubidium in the Presence of Isomeric Hydrocarbons

Abstract

Absorption spectra of Rb in the presence of various hydrocarbons (ethylene, propylene, butene‐1, isobutylene, isobutane, n‐pentane, isopentane, neopentane, n‐hexane, 3‐methylpentane, 2,3‐dimethylbutane, and neohexane) were studied for the purpose of determining the dependence of the collision‐induced satellite bands on the structure of colliding particles. It was found that the positions of the low‐temperature red bands are regularly affected by the differences in structure of the hydrocarbon molecules. In particular, the least branched (straight chain) isomeric molecules produce bands with the smallest band‐line separations, and the most branched molecules with four or three methyl groups attached to the same carbon atom produce bands with the largest band‐line separations. On the other hand, the positions of the high‐temperature red bands as well as the positions of the violet bands are not noticeably affected by the differences in molecular structure of the hydrocarbon isomers employed in this work.