The effect of inductance on fine transfer between platinum contacts

The paper commences with a brief review of the previous work on fine transfer between contacts. The investigation described was undertaken to find out whether there is a connection between fine transfer and the inductive energy stored in a circuit at break. The work was carried out with platinum contacts in a 6-volt circuit breaking currents of the order of 1 amp. The circuit inductance was controlled from 0.05 to 10 ¿H. The results show that there is a residual transfer independent of inductance, but that the transfer is dependent on inductance when this is greater than about 0.3 ¿H. In both cases the transfer results in cathode gain. It is deduced that this second transfer is due to a ¿short arc.¿ Possible explanations of the two types of transfer are given.