Debye- Falkenhagen Effect
Debye- Falkenhagen Effect
Conductance Under High A.C. Frequencies
Debye- Falkenhagen examined the conductance behaviour of strong eletrolytic solution by applying alternating current (AC) of different frequncies. They observed that the conductivity of an electrolytic solution increases when voltage of a very high frequency is applied. This is known as Debye–Falkenhagen effect.
They predicted that if the frequency of alternating current is high so that the time of oscillation is less than the relaxation time of the ionic atmosphere, the asymmetry effect will be almost absent. That is, the ionic atmosphere around the central ion will remain symmetric. In such a situation, the retarding effect due to asymmetry will be entirely absent and the conductance may be higher. The conductance of the solution, therefore, should vary with the frequency of the alternating current used.
Higher the frequency, higher the conductance, this effect also termed dispersion conductance has been experimentally verified.
The conductance is independent of frequency of alternating current up to 10cps (cycles per second). But with further increase of frequency, the conductance increases towards a certain limiting value. This shows the complete absence of asymmetry effect under high frequency alternating current.
