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Temperature And Supersaturation Dependent Nucleation Rates Of Water By Molecular Cluster Model Calculations, Sung-Ho Suck Salk, Chen K. Lutrus, Donald E. Hagen

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Using a microphysical approach to nucleation, we present an extensive study of water nucleation rates for wide ranges of both temperature and supersaturation ratio. Based on the fundamental molecular properties of clusters instead of bulk properties, the microphysical approach is demonstrated to predict good agreement with measured nucleation rates over this broad range of conditions. Predicted critical sizes for nucleation are found to be relatively small, and are in the molecular cluster size regime rather than in a size regime that should be characterized by bulk values. Estimated sticking coefficient values cover the range of ~0.9 to ~0.2 for the …