The pressure, volume, and temperature behavior of water at negative pressures

Abstract

The p-v-T behavior of a pure substance is among its most important properties. Accurate data of this type are necessary for the determination of the molecular parameters of the substance in any theoretical or semi- theoretical equation of state. Many workers thus investigated pure gases to pressures of 7,000 psi (22). Others have measured the p-v-T behavior of pure liquids to 150,000 psi (4). It has been known for many years that a liquid column will sustain large tensile stresses (2, 7, 30, 33). Several investigators have made quantitative studies of the magnitudes of these tensile stresses, or negative pressures, that some pure liquids can withstand. While under tensile stress, negative pressure, the liquid is in a metastable state and, if the tensile stress is too large, it changes irreversibly to the two-phase system of liquid and vapor. The critical tensile stress is of interest in quite a number of fields of pure and applied science, and experiments have been made by a large number of workers. The following are some of the fields of research in which the problem occurs: (a). The ascent of sap in plants, and. the ejection of spores from ferns. (b). The formation of bubbles in liquid, e.g, blood supersaturated with gas. (c). The design of ships' propellors. (d). The design of echo-sounding and similar equipment, and the study of the biological effects of supersonic waves. (e). The study of surface phenomena attending an under-water explosion.