Intermolecular forces from the speed of sound

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
An inversion method is described by which a spherically-symmetric pair-potential-energy function may be determined from the second acoustic virial coefficient of a gas without recource to an assumed functional form. Theoretical arguments are used to show that the acoustic virial coefficient contains exactly the same information about intermolecular forces as does the usual volumetric second virial coefficient. The practical inversion algorithm described is an extension of the existing technique developed for the latter property, and the method is tested on a model interaction for methane. The principal advantages of the acoustic method are the high accuracy of the available experimental techniques and the intrinsically stable method of analysis.