Dispersion of depolarisation of Rayleigh scattering. Part I. Fatty acids

Abstract

The paper describes the results of measurements on the dispersion of polarisation of light scattered by benzene, formic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid and isobutyric acid. The depolarisation factor for benzene is constant over a wide range of wave-length. In the case of formic acid and propionic acid the depolarisation factor is found to increase and in acetic acid it is found to decrease as we proceed towards the ultra-violet. It is pointed out that the formation of large molecular groups in the fatty acids is probably responsible for the observed dispersion of depolarisation.