Diffraction Pattern and Structure of Liquid Benzene

Abstract

The scattering of x rays from the free surface of liquid benzene has been analyzed at 25°C. The diffractometer used was specially designed for the study of liquid structure. Intensity and radial distribution functions have been computed for a model structure and compared to those derived from experiment. The model assumes that each benzene molecule “sees” 12 neighboring molecules in preferred orientations similar to those observed for the crystal, surrounded by a continuous distribution of distances. The intensity and radial distribution functions computed for the model are in essential agreement with those derived from experiment.