Electrical Properties of Ice.

An experimental and phenomenological study was made of the charge separation at the advancing surface of growing ice (Workman-Reynolds effect). The charge separation is fundamentally ascribed to anions and cations of an electrolyte solute crossing the phase boundary at different rates. The sign of t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gross,Gerardo Wolfgang
Other Authors: NEW MEXICO INST OF MINING AND TECHNOLOGY SOCORRO
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1970
Subjects:
Ice
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0718359
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0718359
Description
Summary:An experimental and phenomenological study was made of the charge separation at the advancing surface of growing ice (Workman-Reynolds effect). The charge separation is fundamentally ascribed to anions and cations of an electrolyte solute crossing the phase boundary at different rates. The sign of the charge on the ice is determined by the preferentially incorporated ion constituent. The magnitude is determined by solute species, solute concentrations, and freezing rate. The process is very sensitive to hydrogen-ion concentration. Solutes widely present in meteoric waters, ammonium, bicarbonate, sodium, and chloride, give rise to large charge separations. Although the present results suggest that water free of impurities will not show appreciable charge separation upon freezing, this question, of paramount importance for an understanding of cloud processes, requires further investigation. (Author)