Lindemann Law and Lattice Dynamics

Abstract

Using lattice dynamics, the Lindemann law of melting has been tested for five body-centered and six face-centered metallic elements. The law is obeyed by all five of the bcc alkali metals; the average Lindemann parameter is 0.113. Four of the six fcc metals, Al, Cu, Ag, and Au, also obey the law with an average value for the Lindemann parameter of 0.071. Explanations are proposed why the agreement of Ni and Pb with the fcc value is not as good. The improvements are obtained by the use of spectral moments and data, where available, on physical properties at high temperature. The slopes of the melting curves have been calculated and are found to be consistently lower than the values experimentally determined, probably because of the unavailability of data on properties at high temperature.