Abstract
WEALE1 has directed attention to an earlier formula, due to Schytil, according to which the surface tension of a liquid is proportional to TmV−2/3, Tm being the melting point and V the molar volume. Since the number of molecules in a unit area of the surface is (V/N)−2/3 the above relation can be interpreted to mean that the surface energy per unit area, and the thermal energy of the molecules in that area, are proportional to each other at the melting point. Numerical calculations show that for most liquids the two are almost equal, if we consider the translational part of the thermal energy only. Thus σm, the surface tension at the melting point, is given by: k being the Boltzmann constant.
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References
Weale, Nature, 168, 343 (1951).
Glasstone, ‘Text-Book of Physical Chemistry’, 509 (Macmillan and Van Nostrand Co., 1946).
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DAYAL, B. Surface Tension and Melting Point. Nature 169, 1010 (1952). https://doi.org/10.1038/1691010a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1691010a0
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