IMPACT OF DISSOCIATION AND IONIZATION ON PROPERTIES OF IODINE VAPOR

The partition functions are calculated for the I-127I-127 iodine molec ule, the I-127 atom, and the corresponding singly charged atomic ion a nd are subsequently used in calculating the dissociation and ionizatio n degrees as well as the thermodynamic functions in iodine vapor in lo cal thermal equilibrium in the temperature range of 700 less-than-or-e qual-to T less-than-or-equal-to 12 000 K. It was found that at densiti es greater than 10(14) CM-3 iodine dissociates at rather low temperatu res (T < 3000 K) and only achieves significant ionization at high temp eratures (T > 10 000 K). This makes iodine a convenient model gas for studying chemical nonequilibrium in diatomic gases.