Temperature Shift of the Potassium Resonance Lines

Abstract

Effect of temperature on the shift and half-width of the potassium resonance lines in absorption perturbed by nitrogen pressures from 1 to 15 atmospheres has been investigated. Two sets of data, one at 270°C and the other at 90°C, show that both shift and half-width vary with temperature in the same manner. As the "relative density" of nitrogen is increased, the effect of temperature decreases, and becomes unobservable above relative density 7. The results are in agreement with Margenau's theory which predicts the presence of both the Lorentz type of broadening dependent on temperature and "statistical" broadening independent of temperature for low relative densities. The temperature effect decreases with increasing relative density, because of statistical broadening.