Neutron Diffraction Study of the Structure of Liquid Water

The structure factor for heavy water at 17 °C up to the Q value of 18 Å−1 has been determined by means of the time-of-flight (TOF) diffraction method using pulsed neutrons produced by LINAG. The result has been compared with structure factors calculated on the basis of the various structure models of liquid water; the “uncorrelated orientation model” and the “watery model” (Page and Powles), the “near-neighbor model” (Narten) and the “revised watery model” (authors). None of these models has been found to fit the neutron diffraction data satisfactorily over the entire range of Q, though our curve is somewhat improved in comparison with the curves for earlier models. Some discussions about the various structure models of liquid water have been made.