| Abstract: | The compressibility of an individual ion is examined, in comparison with a known set of data for the alkali halides. A simple extrapolation of ionic radius to high pressure is not acceptable, because the pressure derivative of ionic radius changes for different salts. According to the classical concept of an elastic ion, the repulsive potential energy between the ions i and j is specified by the nature of each ion as: as a function of the interionic distance r. In this expression, qi and ρi are the ionic radius and ionic compressibility, respectively, in a suitably modified meaning. Such a form of the repulsive potential fits well to the data of lattice constants and bulk moduli. The parameters qi and ρi are evaluated for alkali and halogen ions, and an anion turns out to be much more compressible than a cation. The present treatment may be usefully applied to the minerals in the Earth's mantle, which contain only a few major ions. |
