Abstract
It is demonstrated that a heretofore neglected contribution to the chemical potential of a small droplet arises from any variation of surface tension with radius. This contribution is evaluated by integration of the Gibbs-Duhem equation for several assumed relationships between surface tension and radius. It is concluded that the dependence of the free energy of formation of critical nuclei on surface tension is definitely not cubic, and exact relationships are given for the several assumed relationships. In the case of homogeneous nucleation of droplets from water vapor, the increase in surface tension required to bring about agreement between theory and cloud chamber observations is more nearly 50% rather than 17% as heretofore believed.
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