HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE ELASTICITY OF LIQUIDS

Important constitutive theories, like those of J. C. Maxwell, or L. Boltzmann are founded on the idea that liquids will accommodate short lived elastic responses. This idea runs against the commonly accepted notion that liquids like water and glycerin have a purely viscous response, without elasticity. Another idea is that liquids possess both elasticity and viscosity in varying amounts. This paper discusses early model proposals describing constitutive equations with elasticity and viscosity, Maxwell models, Newtonian viscosity, along with a systematic approach to the old literature on the elasticity (rigidity) of liquids. Also covered are theoretical developments on the subject. Refs.