Dispersion and Absorption of Ultra-High Frequency Electromagnetic Waves in Some Fatty Acids

The problem of this work is to determine whether the carboxyl group of the fatty acids rotates independently of the reruainder of the molecule when subjected to an alternating electromagnetic field. The dielectric constant and absorption coefficient of dilute solutions of formic, acetic, propionic, and butyric acids in dioxane are measured at a wavelength of 25 centimeters, using Drude's second method. A method is developed for computing the effective volume of the rotating portion of the molecule from this data. The computed volumes are found to be proportional to the molecular volumes, proving that for the acids investigated, the entire molecule rotates as a unit.