Interpretation of Ion Mobility Measurements in Argon and Helium Liquids

Previous interpretations of ion mobility measurements in liquefied argon and helium in terms of gas kinetic theory have shown that these liquids do not behave as compressed gases. A more detailed analysis of the total ion energy shows that in some instances the results have been incorrectly interpreted, while in others it would appear that impurities caused the apparent failure of theory The re-interpretation indicates that kinetic theory is applicable to these liquids, and that the collision cross sections for ions in argon and helium I are very nearly the same in both the gaseous and liquid phases. Polarization attraction is shown to be of great importance In liquid helium II it is necessary to consider quantum effects, but the experimental data can still be explained adequately by gas kinetic equations.