The thermodynamics of melting of simple substances

A review of the results of real and numerical experiments characterizing the thermodynamics of the melting of simple substances is given. With the examples of argon and sodium it is demonstrated that the qualitative trends in the behavior of the thermodynamic quantities along the melting curve are independent of the form of the interaction forces. The question of the form of the “characteristic” energy determining the melting or crystallization of a substance is analyzed. It is concluded that melting is the most general example of an order-disorder transition in coordinate space. The question of the nature of maxima in melting curves is discussed. The empirical relations of Lindemann and Simon are considered.