Effect of spatial inhomogeneities on the rate of homogeneous nucleation in systems with aerosol particles

The presence of growing particles in a system leads to spatial inhomogencities in the vapor concentration. The effect of these spatial variations on the rate of formation of new particles by homogeneous nucleation is examined theoretically using a cell model. Results indicate that the presence of these inhomogeneities in systems both with and without initial aerosol has generally little effect on the final number concentration of particles following a nucleation “event.”