Pressure—Volume—Temperature Relations in Solid Parahydrogen

Abstract

Experimental data are presented for the molar volume of solid parahydrogen at five different temperatures over the range 11.49° to 19.97°K and at pressures from 0 to 350 atm. In making the density measurements, it was found that there is a fairly well‐defined region of temperature and pressure in which solid hydrogen is viscoelastic. At higher pressures the solid is rather hard and rigid. A diagram is included which gives an idea of the PVT relations for solid parahydrogen up to a pressure of about 400 atm. The accuracy with which the points on this diagram are known ranges from ±0.2% along the melting line to ±5% at points far from the melting line. A striking feature is the shape of the isobars in the neighborhood of the melting line; at pressures above about 150 atm, each isobar passes through a maximum at a molar volume which is greater than the corresponding molar volume along the melting line. It appears that the thermal coefficient of expansion of solid parahydrogen is negative in a narrow range of temperature and pressure.