Ivor and Olive Lewis on fri 17 dec 04
Dear William Lucius
The behaviour of a supercooled fluid is an interesting one to play
with.
I suppose the simple definition of the Supercooled state would be to
say that the Fluid still has the physical and chemical
characteristics, except for temperature, of the original Fluid. So the
viscosity below its solidification temperature should be very similar
if not identical to that of the liquid at the binary point. It remains
a fluid which will readily flow when removed from its container.
Another point to consider is the behaviour of a supercooled fluid when
it is disturbed. The presence or application of any form of external
influence precipitates nucleation and rapid crystal growth.
Given the inclusions, inhomogenaity of composition and general dirt
that would be in an ancient melt of glass, it is difficult to
understand why the stuff did not rapidly opacify then disintegrate at
the first puff of wind if its physical properties do conform to the
definition of Supercooling.
There was a drama put out by the BBC many years ago with the title
"The Stone Tapes" which explored the notion that sound energy could be
recovered from the stones of a building.
We should not forget that our molecular model of Glass Structure comes
from work first published in 1932. I recall attending a lecture, with
my Father, at Sheffield University (a centre for glass research) in
1950 when the model was presented to a public audience
Yes, and interesting topic.
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis.
Redhill,
S. Australia.
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