Author Correction: The loss of ions from Venus through the plasma wake

The amount of energy required to remove the most loosely bound electron from a gaseous atom in its ground state is called its first ionization energy (IE1). The first ionization energy for an element, X, is the energy required to form a cation with 1+ charge:

To escape the Earth's gravity, an object near the top of the atmosphere at an altitude of 100 km must travel away from Earth at 11.1 km/s. This speed is called the escape velocity. The temperature at which gas molecules attain the rms speed, which is equal to the escape velocity, can be estimated by using the equation for the average kinetic energy of the gas molecules. According to the kinetic theory of gas, the average kinetic energy of the gas molecules is proportional to its...

In a beam of charged particles created by a heated cathode, the particles move at different speeds. However, many applications need a beam with uniform particle speeds. An arrangement known as a velocity selector uses electric and magnetic fields to pick particles with a particular speed from the beam.
A particle with charge q, speed v, and mass m enters an area from the top, where the magnetic and electric fields are perpendicular both to the particle's motion and to one another. The magnetic...

In inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP–MS), an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) torch is used as an atomizer and ionizer. Solid samples are dissolved and volatilized before being introduced into the high-temperature argon plasma, while solution samples are nebulized and passed through the high-temperature argon plasma. Plasma dissociates the analytes and ionizes their component atoms to form a mixture of positive ions and molecular species. The positive ions are then...

Ion exchange chromatography separates charged molecules from a solution by reversibly exchanging them with mobile, or 'active', ions associated with the oppositely charged stationary phase. This method can be used to separate ions, soften and deionize water, and purify solutions. The polymers comprising the ion-exchange column are high-molecular-weight and chemically stable polymers, crosslinked to be porous and essentially insoluble. They are also functionalized with either acidic or...

Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) is the most widely used plasma source in atomic emission spectroscopy (AES), also known as Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The ICP source, or torch, consists of three concentric quartz tubes with argon gas flowing through them. A spark from a Tesla coil initiates the ionization of argon, generating a high-temperature plasma.
The ions and electrons produced interact with the fluctuating magnetic field created by a water-cooled...