Energy transfer from the resonance states Ar(1P1) and Ar(3P1) to ethylene

A study has been made of the quenching of the 1P1 and 3P1 resonance states of the argon atom by ethylene using a resonance fluorescence technique. Excited atoms were created by a pulsed beam of 2-MeV protons. The measured values of the rate constants are 10.3×10−10 and 5.6×10−10 cm3 molecule−1 · sec−1 for the 1P1 and 3P1 states, respectively. These compare with the calculated values of 10.3×10−10 and 5.4×10−10 cm3 molecule−1 · sec−1 for the respective states using the theory of Watanabe and Katsuura.