X. Bakerian lecture.–On the diffusion of metals

Abstract

The diffusion of molten and solid metals has long demanded investigation, their molecular mobility being of great interest in relation to the constitution of matter, and its results of much industrial importance. The analogy of alloys to ordinary saline solutions has often been pointed out, and many experiments have recently been devoted to comparing the action of osmotic pressure in saline solutions and in alloys, as measured by the lowering of the freezing point which is caused by the addition to the solvent of a small quantity of another body. The general effect is the same whether the solvent is a liquid like water or a molten metal. Very little attention has, however, been given to the consideration of the molecular movements which enable two or more molten metals to mix spon­taneously and form a truly homogeneous fluid mass, although it is by such an investigation that the analogy of an alloy to a saline solution may reasonably be expected to be more clearly revealed than by any other method of research.