On a relation between the refractive and dispersive constants of the inert gases

In 1911 I published in the ‘Philosophical Magazine’ a paper on new determinations of some constants of the inert gases, and drew attention to the remarkable empirical relations which subsist between (1) the calculated numbers of “dispersion” electrons in the atoms of these five elements, (2) their “viscosity diameters” as determined by Prof. A. O. Rankine, and (3) their critical temperatures. Since that time the figures used have undergone revision. The accurate determination of the value of ε by Millikan has enabled us to give absolute, instead of relative, values to the apparent numbers of dispersion electrons (q , see Table I). Chapman has recalculated the viscosity diameters, and Rankine has revised Chapman’s values, in the light of corrections to be made in his own values of Sutherland’s constants for argon, krypton and xenon. But these alterations have not affected the validity of the relations then published.