The Application of Blanc's Law to the Determination of the Diffusion Coefficients for Thermal Electrons in Gases

Abstract

Blanc's law is exactly applicable when the momentum transfer cross sections for electrons in each constituent of a gas mixture have the same energy dependence in the relevant energy range. This condition is rarely satisfied even for thermal energies. In this paper the magnitude of the errors arising from the applications of Blanc's law is examined for some cases where the condition is strongly violated, and a procedure developed for obtaining useful data from its application even under these circumstances.