Temperature Dependence of Transport Properties of Liquid Sodium and Potassium

Abstract

The electrical and thermal resistivities of liquid Na and K are calculated over a range of temperature at and above the melting point using the solutions of the Boltzmann equation, the form factors constructed using the Dagens-Rasolt-Taylor (DRT) model potential, the screening function of Geldart and Taylor and the X-ray structure factors of Waseda. The ratio of the electrical and the thermal resistivities is compared with the Wiedemann-Franz law and with experiment. We show that the deviation from the Lorenz number can be explained by the inelastic part of the electron-phonon scattering and the electron-electron scattering.

Keywords:

• Liquid Metal
• Sodium
• Potassium
• Electrical Resistivity
• Thermal Conductivity
• Lorenz Number