The addition of ethyl radicals to ethylene has been studied in the temperature range 58° to 123 °C. The radicals were produced by the mercury photosensitized decomposition of hydrogen in the presence of ethylene, and the rate of the addition reaction was measured in terms of the rate of formation of n-hexane by the combination of ethyl and butyl radicals. Corrections were made for the non-uniformity of radical concentrations in the reaction zone. Assuming a negligible activation energy for the combination of two ethyl radicals, the activation energy for the addition reaction is 5.5 kcal. per mole; the steric factor, relative to the square root of the steric factor for ethyl radical combination, is 5.0 × 10−5.