Abstract
The Becker-Döring and Fisher nucleation kinetic theories of metastability of the liquid-vapor transition are outlined and compared with Temperley's theory based on equilibrium statistical mechanics, and it is claimed that the two approaches are in effect the same—a point that has been made by O. Penrose based on a different argument. The theoretical 27T c/32 for the limit of superheat is known to be in reasonable agreement with experiment. The tensile strengths of liquids have been measured by many methods which have appeared to be in conflict, but it is claimed that the conflicts can be resolved by invoking “rectified diffusion” of gas into a bubble performing forced oscillations in a periodic pressure field and by considering the structure of the free surface of a liquid. The transition layer almost certainly contains a region in which the velocity of sound is low. A brief account of cavitation effects is given.
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Temperley, H.N.V., Trevena, D.H. Metastability of the liquid-vapor transition and related effects. J Stat Phys 77, 501–508 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02186855
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02186855