Surface Energy of Liquid Transition Metals Related to Bulk Compressibility and Thickness

Abstract

Using recent data for the isothermal compressibility K _Tm of liquid transition metals near the melting temperature, we find that the product σK _Tm, where a is the corresponding surface tension, gives a “length” L of near constant value. In consequence transition metals follow the same pattern as nontransition metals. That is, the width L of the liquid-vapour interface of all liquid metals is relatively sharp and varies little between different classes of metals. Furthermore, the small variations of L can be linked to an “effective valence” of the metal.

Key Words:

• Liquid transition metals
• surface tension
• bulk compressibility
• thickness.