By comparison of measurements of shadowgraph images of convection in ethanol-water mixtures with the results of recent numerical calculations, we study the role of the concentration field in traveling-wave and stationary convection. The results confirm the existence of a large concentration contrast between adjacent traveling-wave convection rolls. This concentration modulation, which decreases as the Rayleigh number is increased and the transition to stationary convection is approached, is fundamental to the translation of the pattern.

• Received 30 January 1991

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.43.7105