Convective Fingering of an Autocatalytic Reaction Front
Convective Fingering of an Autocatalytic Reaction Front
Physical Review E, 53, 6012 (1996).
Michael R. Carey
Department of Physics,
University of Toronto, 60 St. George St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A7. Present address: Department of Physics, Duke
University, PO Box 90305, Durham, NC 27708-0305.
Stephen W. Morris
Department of Physics and Erindale College,
University of Toronto, 60 St. George St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A7.
Paul Kolodner
AT & T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974-0636
We report experimental observations of the convection-driven fingering
instability of an iodate-arsenous acid chemical reaction front. The front
propagated upward in a vertical slab; the thickness of the slab was varied to
control the degree of instability. We observed the onset and subsequent
nonlinear evolution of the fingers, which were made visible by a pH
indicator. We measured the spacing of the fingers during their initial stages
and compared this to the wavelength of the fastest growing linear mode
predicted by the stability analysis of Huang et. al. [Phys. Rev. E,
48, 4378 (1993), and unpublished]. We find agreement with the thickness
dependence predicted by the theory.
PACS numbers: 47.20.Bp, 47.70.Fw, 03.40.Gc
