Interfacial tensions of three fluid phases in equilibrium

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Abstract
It is suggested that it may be a general thermodynamic law that when three mutually saturated fluid phases are in equilibrium, the three interfacial tensions σ satisfy the triangle inequality σmax < σmed + σmin, where σmax is the largest of the three, σmed the median, and σmin the smallest. An argument for the inequality is given, and systems in which to test it experimentally are suggested. The quantitative law by which the interfacial tensions vanish as the three fluid phases become identical at a tricritical point is derived by an adaptation of an earlier argument on the vanishing of the interfacial tension on approach to the tricritical point in phase−separated 3He−4He mixtures.

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