Variation with temperature of the velocity of transverse elastic waves in solid argon

The temperature variation of the velocity of transverse elastic waves (v t) in polycrystalline solid argon has been determined from 18°k to 62°k, using a cast rod in torsional oscillation. By extrapolation, v t at 0°k is estimated to be 917 msec−1. In terms of the interatomic potential φ(r) = (A/rm ) − (B/r6 ) the calculations of Horton and Leech give the best fit with m = 13 and with nearest-neighbour interactions only considered.