Statistical Mechanical Theory of Transport Processes. VII. The Coefficient of Thermal Conductivity of Monatomic Liquids

A molecular theory of the coefficient of thermal conductivity is developed from the general theory of transport processes presented in the first article of this series. The thermal conductivity of liquid argon at its normal boiling point is evaluated using the Lennard-Jones intermolecular potential and a theoretically determined radial distribution function. The theory leads to an explicit expression for the product of the thermal conductivity and the friction constant of the theory of Brownian motion. With a reasonable estimate of the friction constant, the results of the theory agree satisfactorily with experiment.