N. P. Malomuzh, V. N. Makhlaychuk
ABSTRACT
The paper discusses the physical nature of the coefficient of self-diffusion in liquid alkali metals. The self-diffusion coefficient D is represented as two contributions: single-particle and collective. It is shown that the contribution of the collective component in the vicinity of the melting point is 5–6% and with increasing temperature to where – the critical temperature reaches 25–30%. The sum of the single-particle and collective contributions reproduces the experimental values and the temperature dependence and self-diffusion coefficient of liquid alkali metals with a very satisfactory accuracy (above 95%). A new method for calculating the radii of ions of liquid metals based on an analysis of their shear viscosity is proposed. On the basis of similarity considerations, the question of the applicability of Einstein’s formula for determining single-particle contributions to the coefficient of self-diffusion of low-molecular liquids and liquid metals is discussed. A new formulation of the similarity principle for liquid metals is proposed.
KEYWORDS
self-diffusion coefficient, liquid alkali metals