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

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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.