Ionic radii and the distance of closest approach in the Debye-H�ckel theory of electrolytes

Abstract

The Debye-Huckel description of electrolytes is based partly on the unrealistic specification that a single radius can be used in the representation of cation-cation, anion-anion, and cation-anion interactions. In this paper it is shown how physically realistic assignment of ionic radii leads to a more satisfactory equation for the activity coefficient.