The Nature of the Fusion Process in Argon

A brief review is presented of the method previously used of treating the phenomenon of fusion by means of curves for the thermodynamic functions (∂E/∂V)T and (∂S/∂V)T as functions of the molal volume. The curves used by the writer in previous work are shown to be consistent with Bridgman's P-V-T data. The characteristics of these curves are discussed, and the evidence is considered which tends to indicate that fusion involves an order-disorder phenomenon. The applicability of various types of order-disorder theory is critically considered in the light of the available experimental data.