Abstract
CERTAIN theoretical considerations on the relations of the solid, liquid, and gaseous states of matter led me three or four years ago to the speculation that in a perfect vacuum the liquid state would be impossible, and that under this condition it might be possible to raise bodies to temperatures above their ordinary melting-points. These ideas were mentioned to one or two friends at the time, but they naturally considered them as speculations which would not be verified by experiment. From the pressure of other work the subject was for the time dropped, and it was not till the autumn of 1879 that an experimental investigation was commenced. The first substance tried was sulphur, but this was ultimately found to be unsuitable, as under low pressures, though it apparently boiled as low as 130°C., yet at that or a little above that temperature it began to froth. Naphthalene was then tried, but as the pressure at which the boiling-point fell below the melting-point was less than about 7 mm., it was not easy to maintain the pressure at a sufficiently low point. Mercuric chloride however, which was the next body tried, yielded better results.
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CARNELLEY, T. Experiments on Ice Under Low Pressures . Nature 23, 341–344 (1881). https://doi.org/10.1038/023341b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/023341b0