The Effect of Ammonium Sulfate on Succinic Acid

Julia Silvia

Under Advisement of Professor Ryan Snyder

Bucknell University

In our atmosphere, there are aerosol particles that affect global cooling and warming. The more understanding we can have of these particles, the more we can understand the climate change we face today. The formation and behavior of ideal (single substance) aerosol particles in laboratory conditions are in many cases well understood. However, some systems have behaviors that make them the exception to general trends. One of these systems is the Succinic Acid and Ammonium Sulfate system. Previous studies have shown that when various organic and an inorganic substance mixtures form aerosols, they typically form a one-peak distribution for particle diameter. However, Succinic Acid and Ammonium Sulfate mixtures do not follow this behavior which can influence their abilities to form cloud-producing nuclei. Particle sizes are determined using a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS). In this work, I will describe our quantification of this behavior, as well as present a potential explanation for it. I will describe the impact of solute ratio, as well as a post-particle formation temperature equilibration on the particle sizes.