Light emission from shock-heated sulphur dioxide. Part 2.—Ultra-violet emission

Abstract

The thermal emission from shock-heated SO₂ stretches from 2500–5000 Å. It can be resolved into contributions from the ³B₁, ¹B₂ and a third (¹B₁ ?) higher electronic state. The latter has its origin near 2800 Å and predissociates from levels with about 55 kcal/mole vibrational energy. Possible earlier observations of absorption and emission from this state are discussed. Kinetics of electronic excitation are described for each state. The radiative lifetimes are 2 × 10^–4, 4 × 10^–6 and 2 × 10^–7 sec respectively.