Abstract
The viscosity of the separated isotopes of molten lithium was measured by observing the damped oscillations of a torsion pendulum whose bob contained a spherical cavity filled with the material under test. For both and , the viscosity varies approximately as over the temperature range 180 to 300°C; has the value 458°K for and 631°K for . The viscosity of is 4.18±0.05 mP (millipoise) at 180.4°C, its melting point; of , 6.00±0.05 mP at 180.7°C, its melting point. A linear interpolation for (7.4% , 92.6% ) gives 5.86 mP at 180.5°C, only slightly lower than the value of 6.02 mP reported earlier by Andrade and Dobbs. The ratio of the viscosity of to that of is 1.44 at the melting point, in contrast with the value of 1.08, the square root of the mass ratio, as predicted on simple theoretical arguments. Actually, a thorough dimensional analysis shows that the viscosity varies as times a complementary dimensionless function containing—among other arguments— the mass as a consequence of quantum effects. The function evidently depends strongly on these effects, as indicated not only by the present results on molten and , but also by the results of others on other isotopically-substituted liquids.
- Received 22 May 1962
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.128.6
©1962 American Physical Society