Abstract
Chemical composition of spray drops from aqueous solutions of seasalt was experimentally determined as a function of the drop radius.
The purpose of the experiment is to examine the primary fractionation hypothesis which has been suggested for the explanation of the difference between a chemical composition of giant condensation nuclei in unstable maritime airmasses and that of the seawater.
Mother solutions used in this experiment were aqueous solutions of NaCI-MgC12, NaCICaCl2, NaCI-SrC12 and NaCI-BaC12, each of which contains Na of concentration equal to that in the seawater.
Spray drops of 0.4 micron in radius was found to have a different composition from that of their mother solution. Mg/Na in the spray drops was 1.37 times of that of the mother liquid, Ca/Na 1.87, Sr/Na 2.04 and Ba/Na 1.40 times respectively.
Composition of drops larger than 0.4 micron in radius showed no difference from that of the mother liquid.
