SIGNIFICANT STRUCTURES IN LIQUIDS. II

Some remarks about liquid metals

This paper proposes that the liquid state in metals consists of clusters, or globs, of ordered material separated by very thin layers of defects. The nature of the defects surrounding each glob and separating it from neighboring globs is the main feature of the theory. The volume of each defect and the energy to produce it is found to be only a fraction of that required to produce an ordinary vacancy in a solid. A close correlation is shown to exist between this theory and Eyring's theory of significant structures.(1-7) The heats of fusion and the volume changes on melting can be computed, as can be the coordination numbers in the liquid state.

Properties of molten magnesium oxide

The Significant Structure Theory of Liquids has been used to calculate the thermodynamic properties, viscosity, self-diffusion coefficient, and specific conductance of molten magnesium oxide, taking account of the decomposition of MgO to Mg and O(2) species in the gas-like part of the partition function.