The Reaction of Hydrogen and Oxygen through a Silent Electric Discharge. III. The Ignition of the Hydrogen-Oxygen Gas by Silent Electric Discharge

The ignition of a hydrogen and oxygen gas mixture by a silent electric discharge was investigated. The quantity of electricity which must be carried in the course of the discharge before a detonation will take place is almost independent of the composition of the gas mixture. Furthermore, for a gas mixture of fixed composition, the quantity of electricity increases along with the increasing pressure of detonative gas. A tentative view of the possible mechanism of the initiation of the detonation was briefly discussed.