On the Analysis of the Amplitudes in the Relaxation Processes in Micellar Solutions

If the relaxation processes in aqueous solutions of Na‐Decylsulfate and Na‐Dodecylsulfate are investigated by means of a pressure‐jump apparatus and followed by conductivity measurements, the amplitude of the slow relaxation process, if plotted versus the surfactant concentration, intersects twice with the abscissa, being negative in between. – Ananalysis of this result permits a decision between two alternative approximations used in the theory of micellation in favour of that made by Aniansson and Wall, at least for these systems. – The first zero is caused by the fact, that although the slow relaxation process takes place, its amplitude becomes indetectable because the changes of the contributions to the conductivity by monomers and micelles, respectively, compensate each other at this particular concentration. At the second zero the slow process itself vanishes, as there the change of the total number of micelles during the relaxation process changes its sign. Thus, at this particular concentration only the fast process takes place. – The results permit an independent determination of the width of the size distribution and the reaction volumes.