The isentropic exponent for gases is a physical quantity that can ease significantly the hydrodynamic modeling effort. In gas dynamics the isentropic exponent depends only on the number of degrees of freedom of the considered gas. The isentropic exponent for a plasma is lower due to an extra degree of freedom caused by ionization. In this paper it will be shown that, like for gases, the isentropic exponent for atomic plasmas is also constant, as long as the ionization degree is between 5%–80%. Only a very weak dependence on the electron temperature and the two nonequilibrium parameters remain. An argon plasma is used to demonstrate the behavior of the isentropic exponent on the plasma conditions, and to make an estimation of the value of the isentropic exponent of a customary plasma. For atmospheric plasmas, which usually have an electron temperature of about 1 eV, a sufficiently accurate estimate for the isentropic exponent of plasmas is 1.16.
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June 1999
Research Article|
June 01 1999
The isentropic exponent in plasmas
K. T. A. L. Burm;
K. T. A. L. Burm
Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
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W. J. Goedheer;
W. J. Goedheer
F.O.M. Institute for Plasma Physics, “Rijnhuizen,” partner to the trilateral Euregio Cluster, P.O. Box 1207, 3430 BE Nieuwegein, The Netherlands
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D. C. Schram
D. C. Schram
Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
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Phys. Plasmas 6, 2622–2627 (1999)
Article history
Received:
December 15 1998
Accepted:
February 26 1999
Citation
K. T. A. L. Burm, W. J. Goedheer, D. C. Schram; The isentropic exponent in plasmas. Phys. Plasmas 1 June 1999; 6 (6): 2622–2627. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.873535
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