Thermodynamic Properties of Gaseous Nitrous Oxide and Nitric Oxide from Speed-of-Sound Measurements

Abstract

The speed of sound was measured in gaseous nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitric oxide (NO) using an acoustic resonance technique with a relative standard uncertainty of less than 0.01%. The measurements span the temperature range 200 to 460 K at pressures up to the lesser of 1.6 MPa or 80% of the vapor pressure. The data were analyzed to obtain the constant-pressure ideal-gas heat capacity p0 as a function of temperature with a relative standard uncertainty of 0.1%. For N2O, the values of p0 agree within 0.1% with those determined from spectroscopic data. For NO, the values of p0 differ from spectroscopic results by as much as 1.5%, which is slightly more than the combined uncertainties. The speed-of-sound data were fitted by virial equations of state to obtain temperature-dependent density virial coefficients. Two virial coefficient models were employed, one based on square-well intermolecular potentials, and the second based on a hard-core Lennard-Jones intermolecular potential. The resulting virial equations reproduced nearly all the sound-speed data to within ±0.01% and may be used to calculate vapor densities with relative standard uncertainties of 0.1% or less.