XIV.—Notes on the Atmospheric Electrical Potential Gradient in the Industrial Districts around Leeds

Summary

The general effect of products of combustion would be to cause a transformation of the small ions of the air into large ions, which, acting alone, would tend to decrease the air conductivity. Ionisation by flames, however, adds to the number of ions in the air, so that the size of the ions might be increased without the conductivity of the air diminishing. In the case of the fresh smoke direct from the forge or colliery chimneystalks or railway engines of our experiments, it is suggested that combustion in the furnaces would result in an ionisation producing more positive than negative ions. It is only where similar conditions obtain that we should expect such large increases in the positive potential Gradient, due to smoke, as we have recorded.