The effect of temperature on the viscosity of neon

Abstract

The experiments described in this paper have been carried out to obtain accurate data with respect to the variation of the viscosity of neon with temperature, over a range of several hundred degrees Centigrade. This has been rendered more desirable in view of the recent publication of a new theoretical formula for the variation of viscosity of a gas with temperature by J. E. Lennard-Jones, which he has applied with conspicuous success to various gases. In the case of neon, however, it was not possible to make a test of the formula as the experimental data are so sparse, only one observer, A. O. Rankine, having made measurements upon its viscosity, and then at only two temperatures. Accordingly, as neon should provide a crucial test between Lennard-Jones’ formula and that of Sutherland, the method already applied by the author J to the case of air was suitably modified for use with a gas of which the quantity available was strictly limited and values of the viscosity obtained from 444-5° C. downwards. Owing, however, to the increase in the quantity of neon required as the temperature was reduced, it was not found possible to take observations at a temperature lower than — 78-4° C. Unfortunately, it is only at low temperatures that the difference between the two formulæ becomes marked, and hence the results obtained have not been sufficient to provide a really crucial test between them. The determination of the viscosity over a large range does, however, for the first time, provide sufficient data for a reliable comparison to be made of the molecular properties of neon, as determined from its viscosity with the values of the same properties deduced from other sources.