Interatomic-Force Constants from a Central-Force Law

Interatomic-force constants may be predicted from standard central-force laws using thermodynamic data. For the three cases where diffraction data are available (aluminum, copper, and iron) the predicted values agree within an order of magnitude for aluminum and iron, but differ strongly in the case of copper. It is suggested that Jacobsen's α
1
, for copper, represents the strongest departure from a central-force model and should therefore be the most promising point for further theoretical work.