Absorption Spectra of the Palladium and Platinum Triads

Abstract

Under certain conditions the continuous spectrum from high potential sparks between metal electrodes immersed in a liquid is interrupted by absorption lines which are identifiable with lines in the arc emission spectrum of the metal. The importance of these lines lies in the fact that in numerous cases where the spectral structures are known, they have been shown to involve the normal state and sometimes low metastable states of the atoms. By extending these observations to unclassified spectra, this method thus permits the identification of the low levels in the spectral structures.