A study of the temperature dependence of topological short-range-order and surface tension of liquid elements

This work presents a new approach to study the variation of the surface tension with temperature through the temperature dependence of the topological-short-range-order (TSRO) existing in the liquid phase, A relation has been deduced for the temperature dependence of the topological-short-range-order. Both the characteristic features of the liquid phase viz. the strong correlation among the atoms over smaller distances and the high temporal disorder have been incorporated in the development of the theory. A relation has also been obtained for the temperature dependence of the coefficient of surface tension sigma. Present study indicates that both, the decrease in TSRO as well as the increase in the bulk volume govern the variation of surface tension with temperature. Calculated values of the surface tension, for inert and alkali elements. are in good agreement with the available experimental data, over a,vide range of temperatures, the maximum deviation is 6.7%.