Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2009
Multi-fluid equations derived in a previous paper are used to study small- amplitude wave motion in a partially ionized chemically-reacting plasma. The plasma is assumed to be infinite and without external fields. The dispersion equations are derived and solved both numerically and analytically for several limiting cases. The effects of chemical reactions have been explicitly obtained. It is found that at the long-wavelength limit, the ionization and recombination terms play the dominant role for the damping of certain longitudinal waves even for a nearly frozen plasma.