A linear representation of permittivity versus temperature data for pure alcohols

Abstract

In previous works, permittivity of some pure aliphatic alcohols was measured as a function of temperature and, together with data from the literature, was fitted with an empirical modification of Onsager equation. This representation is complicated because one has to solve the Onsager quadratic equation and then fit the experimental values. Here a new set of data is used in a different representation, with the inverse of the temperature, and a straight line is obtained for each sample. The slopes of these lines are not coincident with those calculated with Onsager or Kirkwood–Fröhlich models, and one can evaluate the differences between the experimental and theoretical values. This is a very simple and clear representation and the good quality of the linear fits attained with the two sets of our measurements and data from several authors is encouraging. A qualitative explanation of the differences observed with the theoretical values is offered.

Keywords:

• Permittivity
• Dielectric constant
• Alcohols
• Onsager
• Kirkwood