For a complete understanding of the liquid state of matter, an understanding of behaviour on the molecular level is necessary. Such behaviour is characterized by two quantities called the intermolecular pair potential function, u, and the radial distribution function, g. The pair potential gives information about the energy due to the interaction of a pair of molecules and is a function of the distance r between their centres. Information about the structure or the distances between pairs of molecules is contained in the radial distribution function. If g and u are known for a substance, macroscopic properties can be calculated.

In an ideal gas—where there are no forces between molecules, and the volume of the molecules is negligible—g is unity, which means that the chance of encountering a second molecule when moving away from a central molecule is independent of position. In a solid, g takes on discrete values at distances that correspond to the locations associated with the solid’s crystal structure. Liquids possess neither the completely ordered structure of a solid crystal nor the complete randomness of an ideal gas. The structure in a liquid is intermediate to these two extremes—i.e., the molecules in a liquid are free to move about, but there is some order because they remain relatively close to one another. Although there are an infinite number of possible positions one molecule may assume with respect to another, some are more likely than others. This is illustrated by Figure 2, which shows an example of the radial distribution function for the dense packing typical of liquids. In this figure, g is a measure of the probability of finding the centre of one molecule at a distance r from the centre of a second molecule. For values of r less than those of the molecular diameter, d, g goes to zero. This is consistent with the fact that two molecules cannot occupy the same space. The most likely location for a second molecule with respect to a central molecule is slightly more than one molecular diameter away, which reflects the fact that in liquids the molecules are packed almost against one another. The second most likely location is a little more than two molecular diameters away, but beyond the third layer preferred locations damp out, and the chance of finding the centre of a molecule becomes independent of position.

The pair potential function, u, is a large positive number for r less than d, assumes a minimum value at the most preferred location (this corresponds to the maximum of the curve in Figure 2), and damps out to zero as r approaches infinity. The large positive value of u corresponds to a strong repulsion, while the minimum corresponds to the net result of repulsive and attractive forces.

There are two methods of measuring the radial distribution function g: first, by X-ray or neutron diffraction from simple fluids and, second, by computer simulation of the molecular structure and motions in a liquid. In the first, the liquid is exposed to a specific, single wavelength (monochromatic) radiation, and the observed results are then subjected to a mathematical treatment known as a Fourier transform.

The second method of obtaining the radial distribution function g supposes that the energy of interaction, u, for the liquid under study is known. A computer model of a liquid is set up, in which between 100 and 1,000 molecules are contained within a cube. There are now two methods of proceeding: by Monte Carlo calculation or by what is called molecular dynamics; only the latter is discussed here. Each molecule is assigned a random position and velocity, and Newton’s equations of motion are solved to calculate the path of each molecule in the changing field of all the others. A molecule that leaves the cell is deemed to be replaced by a new one with equal velocity entering through the corresponding point on the opposite wall. After a few collisions per molecule, the distribution of velocities conforms with equations worked out by the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell, and after a longer time the mean positions are those appropriate to the density and mean kinetic energy (i.e., temperature) of the liquid. Functions such as the radial distribution function g can now be evaluated by taking suitable averages as the system evolves in time. Since 1958 such computer experiments have added more to the knowledge of the molecular structure of simple liquids than all the theoretical work of the previous century and continue to be an active area of research for not only pure liquids but liquid mixtures as well.

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Speed of sound and electric properties

A sound wave is a series of longitudinal compressions and expansions that travels through a liquid at a speed of about one kilometre per second (0.62 mile per second), or about three times the speed of sound in air. If the frequency is not too high, the compressions and expansions are adiabatic (i.e., the changes take place without transfer of heat) and reversible. Conduction of energy from the hot (compressed) to the cold (expanded) regions of the liquid introduces irreversible effects, which are dissipative, and thus such conduction leads to the absorption of the sound. A longitudinal compression (in the direction of the wave) is a combination of a uniform compression and a shearing stress (a force that causes one plane of a substance to glide past an adjacent plane). Hence, both bulk and shear viscosity also govern the propagation of sound in a liquid.

If a liquid is placed in a static electric field, the field exerts a force on any free carriers of electric charge in the liquid, and the liquid, therefore, conducts electricity. Such carriers are of two kinds: mobile electrons and ions. The former are present in abundance in liquid metals, which have conductivities that are generally about one-third of the conductivity of the corresponding solid. The decrease in conductivity upon melting arises from the greater disorder of the positive ions in the liquid and hence their greater ability to scatter electrons. The contribution of the ions is small, less than 5 percent in most liquid metals, but it is the sole cause of conductivity in molten salts and in their aqueous solutions. Such conductivities vary widely but are much lower than those of liquid metals.

Nonionic liquids (those composed of molecules that do not dissociate into ions) have negligible conductivities, but they are polarized by an electric field; that is, the liquid develops positive and negative poles and also a dipole moment (which is the product of the pole strength and the distance between the poles) that is oriented against the field, from which the liquid acquires energy. This polarization is of three kinds: electron, atomic, and orientation. In electron polarization the electrons in each atom are displaced from their usual positions, giving each molecule a small dipole moment. The contribution of electron polarization to the dielectric constant (see below Electrolytes and nonelectrolytes) of the liquid is numerically equal to the square root of its refractive index. The second effect, atomic polarization, arises because there is a relative change in the mean positions of the atomic nuclei within the molecules. This generally small effect is observed at radio frequencies but not at optical, and so it is missing from the refractive index. The third effect, orientation polarization, occurs with molecules that have permanent dipole moments. These molecules are partially aligned by the field and contribute heavily to the polarization. Thus, the dielectric constant of a nonpolar liquid, such as a hydrocarbon, is about 2, that of a weakly polar liquid, such as chloroform or ethyl ether, about 5, while those of highly polar liquids, such as ethanol and water, range from 25 to 80.