The Statistical Mechanical Theory of Transport Processes. III. The Coefficients of Shear and Bulk Viscosity of Liquids

Abstract

A molecular theory of the coefficients of shear and bulk viscosity of monatomic liquids is developed on the basis of the general theory of transport processes presented in the first article of this series. With the use of the Lennard‐Jones potential and a reasonable analytic approximation to the experimental radial distribution function, calculations of the coefficients of shear and bulk viscosity of liquid argon at 89°K have been carried out. The theory leads explicitly to ratios of the coefficients to the friction constant of the theory of Brownian motion. With a preliminary estimate of the friction constant, a value of the shear viscosity of liquid argon in moderately good agreement with experiment is obtained.