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By J. R. Long, E. L. Anderson, R. S. Dean, F. S. Wartman

TITANIUM has been estimated to comprise about 0.65 per cent of the earth's crust and ranks fourth in abundance among the metallic elements suitable for engineering uses. In spite of this, applications of titanium for structural purposes have not as yet been developed. Its commercial exploitation has been largely confined to the chemical industries and the production of paints and pigments; no doubt because of the difficulties that lie in the way of preparing the pure ductile metal. Published reports, however, indicate that ductile titanium can be prepared and possesses some unique properties. This, together with the occurrence in this country of several important titaniferous deposits, has led the Bureau of Mines to investigate processes for the production of metallic titanium, 'methods required for its fabrication, and the properties that may be produced in this interesting metal. METHODS OF PREPARING METALLIC TITANIUM Many early investigators claimed to have isolated metallic titanium; but in the light of present knowledge, it seems that they really had produced various mixtures of carbides and nitrides that have a metallic appearance but are brittle, hard, and unworkable. The first metallic titanium pure enough to be malleable when cold was produced by Hunter1 in the early part of the twentieth century. Kroll,2 van Arkel,3 and Fast,4 subsequently confirmed the facts that pure titanium is a ductile metal and that small amounts of impurities were responsible for previous reports of brittleness. When heated, titanium reacts chemically with various gases, such as hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen; if the volume of gas thus absorbed is too great, the metal becomes brittle and unworkable. The principal difficulty in making ductile titanium is prevention of such contamination, and the success of a given process may be judged by the completeness with which it solves this difficulty in a practical manner. Of the gases mentioned, hydrogen is the least objectionable, since its absorption by the metal is completely reversible and, although dimensional changes occur and absorption of hydrogen embrittles the metal, the gas may be removed readily by heating in a high vacuum for a short time. On the other hand, the absorption of oxygen or nitrogen results in the formation of permanent 'solid solutions of the oxide and nitride, which cannot be decomposed by the strongest reducing agents2 with sufficient completeness to restore the inherent ductility of the metal. Because of

Jan 1, 1946

By Gerard Matthes

WITHIN the last three years, aerial mapping has made wonderful progress. Its three sources of development in North America may be enumerated as follows: (1) The work of the U. S. Army Air. Service and Corps of Engineers at the McCook Experimental Field, Dayton, Ohio. This is generally regarded as the backbone of this class of endeavor in the United States. (2) In Canada, a great deal has been accomplished in a practical way by methods that have not even been tried out in the United States. Under the leadership of the late Doctor Deville, the Dominion Land Surveyors have turned out reconnaissance maps of large areas at very, small cost. (3) Private capital has contributed a great deal toward development of aerial mapping in a practical way in the United States. Prominent in this regard stands the Fairchild Aerial Surveys, Inc. which has spent large sums in research and development work, especially in the construction of aerial cameras. Its camera is, at present, the official camera of the U. S. Army and Navy Air Services, also, of the Canadian and Brazilian governments. Aerial photographic surveying is a flexible process and adapted to a variety of uses. To date, it has proved. of direct practical value for engineering projects such as reservoir and power transmission surveys, railroad location, drainage, harbor front studies; also, for many commercial purposes, tax assessment, city planning, forest surveys, and lawsuits. In a few instances, aerial photographs have been used successfully by geologists as base maps on which to record field observations, thereby dispensing with pacing and compass surveys. There is reason to believe that, eventually, the aerial map will find wide application in the work of geologists. The reason for advancing this opinion is that aerial maps have, in other fields, proved more complete as regards detail than maps made by standard processes of surveying and drafting, and often are more accurate than the latter. At the present time, five distinct uses are being made of aerial photographs: There is the "oblique" photograph taken at an angle with the horizon; it is used extensively for illustrations in newspapers, magazines, and advertisements. Also, for reconnaissance purposes, it has been found of great practical value. For illustrating reports of engineers and geologists, it offers many obvious advantages. In the Canadian Surveys, maps have been compiled from oblique photographs.

Jan 3, 1925

By A. E. Wells

IN 1866, Thomas Graham1 called attention to the volume of gases, three times the volume of the sample, evolved from a meteoric iron heated in an evacuated porcelain tube. From that time to this the occurrence and significance of gases in metals have been the subject of investigation by many workers, among whom Sieverts,2 Iwasé3 and 0. W. Ellis4 stand preeminent. Sieverts and Iwasé concerned themselves with the solubility of a number of gases in metals in the liquid and solid states. They determined the absorption coefficients of these gases, and in all cases found a sharp change in solubility at the melting point of the metals. Ellis analyzed the gases evolved by solidifying copper and those occluded by the solidified metal. Lobley and Jepson5 endeavored to determine the effects of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and nitrogen on the porosity of copper that was allowed to solidify in the presence of each gas after 30 min. exposure to it in the

Jan 1, 1930

By Y. C. Liu, W. R. Hibbard

An aluminum single crystal cold-rolled from (110) [1121 essentially retains its initial orientation after 99.6 pct reduction in thickness. The orientation of the recrys-tallized grains of this material can be described in terms of crystallographic rotations about principal poles of deformation texture. DURING the study of the recrystallization of a copper single crystal cold-rolled from a (110) [112] initial orientation, the orientation of the re-crystallized grains could be derived by a 30" rotation of the orientation of the cold-rolled matrix about its <111> poles.&apos; The present investigation was undertaken to extend the work done on copper&apos; to an aluminum crystal also cold-rolled from a (110) [112] initial orientation. Experimental Procedure The procedure of this experiment was similar to that reported for copper.&apos; An aluminum (99.998 pct) single crystal rod* 1 % in. in diameter was grown in back-reflection technique.&apos; The specimen (1.20x 1.004x0.6787 in. thick) was then rolled along the [112] direction. The final thickness was 0.0028 in., giving a reduction in thickness of about 99.6 pet. Specimens were cut from the rolled strip with scissors, and approximately in. of disturbed metal was removed with Tucker&apos;s reagent. The rolling edge remained intact. The specimens were sandwiched between two graphite plates and annealed in a lead or lead alloy bath which was electrically heated. Pole figures were constructed using the techniques previously described.&apos; Specimens were electrolytically polished4 and etched with 47 pct HNO8, 50 pct HC1, and 3 pct of 48 pct HF. The electrolytic polishing method and etching reagent employed for aluminum specimens were not entirely satisfactory and the microstruc-tures could not be studied in any detail. Results and Discussion The octahedral pole figure of cold-rolled aluminum strip is plotted in Fig. 1. The <111> poles spread in the transverse direction approximately 8" for the highest intensity areas. The spread in the transverse direction can be related to a rotation about two <110> directions lying in a plane containing the rolling direction and rolling plane normal. The two <110> directions and a scale of rotation for the <111> poles are shown in Fig. 2. The amount of rotation is consistent for three of the four <111> poles, about 35" to 40". The discrepancy for the fourth pole is believed to be due to limitations of the film technique. Alternate inter-

Jan 1, 1956

By F. O. Garrabrant

Power is furnished to the Climax Molybdenum Co. by the Public Service Co. of Colorado over two 100,000-volt lines to a bank of three 3333-kva. transformers 100/13.8 kv. These transformers are so designed that with the addition of forced cooling their capacity may be increased 331/3 Per cent at 12,000-ft. altitude. Under present conditions, these transformers are operated at 140 per cent of their rating with forced air cooling. On the secondary side of this bank there is a 15-kv., 1200-amp. Westinghouse oil circuit breaker provided with automatic reclosing relays allowing three successive short circuits before lockout. From this breaker 13.8-kv. power is transmitted to a central switching station (Fig. I) where all circuits radiate to the different operations of the property. Each circuit is protected by a 23-kv., 600-amp. oil circuit breaker with by-pass and isolating disconnecting switches.

Jan 1, 1947

By David S. Butts

There are many solution mining operations that use solar ponds as a mineral recovery step. Other locations in the world are now under investigation to recover minerals by solution mining but require the cheap energy of solar ponds to make the recovery viable. This paper shows a step-by-step material balance system that can be used in both simple and complex solar ponds. Use of this system will help the engineer determine if solar ponding efficiency can be improved or if solar ponding will work at all with a given set of conditions. Even the most complicated solar pond can be reduced to six flow streams. These are (1) feed, (2) exit, (3) leakage, (4) entrainment, (5) salts, and (6) evaporation. The equations developed in this paper will allow the solar pond engineer to easily evaluate the effect of each of the flow streams on the mineral production of a pond or pond complex.

Jan 1, 1985

By Robert C. Edmiston

The measurement of temperatures in exploratory drill holes yields information on regional and local geothermal gradients and mean surface temperatures. This data may be beneficial to the mining geologist interested in the occurrence and oxidation of metallic sulfide minerals or to the mining engineer interested in subsurface temperatures or water movement. Additionally, the estimation of mean surface temperatures by the projection of thermal gradients to the ground surface provides data on which to evaluate infrared imagery as an exploration tool. Temperature measurements in 30 diamond drill holes in the Silver Bell mining district of Arizona show that a regional geothermal gradient of 2.45°C per 100 m increases to 3.03°C per 100 m near the ground surface. It is also found that an anomaly in the mean annual surface temperature of 0.5°C is associated with the shallow occurrence of disseminated sulfides. Changes in the geothermal gradient due to topography, water circulation, and formation changes also occur.

Jan 1, 1976

By Patrick M. Hurley

The relationships between mineral deposits and various plate margin mechanisms are examined under the constraints of radiogenic isotopes and other geochemical indicators. It seems like1 y that: (1) deposits of the spreading ridge association are fairly ubiquitious through most of geologic history and can be recognized by the lithologic assemblage and primitive lead isotope ratios; (2) most metals in the island arc association are not derived entirely from a subducting oceanic plate, and have a partly continental affinity; (3) subduction beneath a continental plate generates ores which are derived either from the downgoing plate or from the lower crust; (4) the heating of a continental plate by thickening or by mantle plumes may develop a metallogenic province involving extraction of metals from the curst; (5) rifts and grabens developing thick sections of marine sediments with evaporites may be the locus of base metal mineralization by movement of reducing brine solutions resulting from diagenesis and bacterial reduction of sulfates

Jan 1, 1978

The Second Pan-American Scientific Congress will be held under the auspices of the United States Government in Washington, D. C., Dec. 27, 1915, to Jan. 8, 1916. The organization officers are John Barrett, LL. D., Director General of the Pan-American Union, Secretary General; Glen Levin Swiggett, Ph. D., Assistant Secretary General; the headquarters of the Congress are the Pan-American Union, Washington, D. C. The program of the Congress is divided into nine main Sections, which are given below with the name of the Chairman of each Section: 1. Anthropology, William H. Holmes, B. S., Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 2. Astronomy, Meteorology, and Seismology, Robert S. Woodward, Ph. D., Carnegie Institution, Washington, D. C. 3. Conservation of National Resources, Agriculture, Irrigation and Forestry, George M. Rommel, B. S., Bureau of Animal Industry, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 4. Education, P. P. Claxton, LL. D., Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C.

Jan 12, 1915

By D. Hartley

United States Steel Corp&apos;s. Minntac mine is located at Mt. Iron, Minn. on the Mesabi Iron range. The taconite pit is two miles wide, with a maximum depth of 170 ft. Millions of tons of crude ore, waste rock, and surface overburden are handled annually at the mine. All crude ore plus some of the lower-grade rock are rail-hauled; other materials are trucked. Length of rail haul averages 3.5 mi, with a lift of 140 ft. The maximum grade against the load is 1 ½ %. Nine 1200 hp diesel-electric locomotives handle trains of 40-and 50-cu yd side dump cars in crude ore and lower-grade rock service. In addition to this continuous operation, locomotives handle coarse tailings disposal and switching duties on an intermittent basis. All railroad equipment operates under the supervision of a mine control foreman through voice radio communication. The pit foreman also has this frequency available, quickly accommodating any changes in operation that may be required.

Jan 1, 1970

By H. B. Charmbury, D. R. Mitchell

Recovery of fine coal from solids reporting to wash water has become increasingly important. These solids range from about 28 mesh to 0 and constitute 3 to 7 pct by weight of the feed tonnage to a coal preparation plant. In the past they were usually wasted to streams, but present clean stream legislation makes it necessary to remove them from the wash water and, if economically possible, recover the associated coal as a saleable product. Where these solids are not wasted to streams or to slime ponds they are recovered by thickeners and filters. Since filter cake is often high in ash or sulfur, or both, it is not readily marketed or used. Common practice is to mix it with other plant products, generally slack or cleaned run-of-mine. Uniform blending is difficult, not only because the impurity is usually high, but also because during certain operating periods it is possible to get a concentration of this filter cake in a railroad or barge.

Jan 2, 1959

By Robert Mehl

IT has been shown that quenched iron of high purity exhibits a Widmanstätten figure much resembling martensite in appearance.1 This figure exhibits a maximum of four directions of the surface traces that characterize it, suggesting that a Fe forms from y Fe in plates parallel to the {111}, octahedral, planes in the y lattice. Because of this, and also because of the general similarity to the structural appearance of martensite and to the Widmanstätten figure obtaining in slowly cooled hypoeutectoid steels it has been suggested2 that the orientation relation-ships obtaining between the y and a phases in pure iron are identical with those demonstrated in martensite3 and in slowly cooled hypoeutectoid steels,4 and indeed that the crystallographic mechanism of formation of a Fe from y Fe is the basic mechanism determining the orientation relation-ships found in both martensite and in slowly cooled hypoeutectoid steels. This paper will present experimental evidence in support of this view.

Jan 1, 1934

By R. Taggart, G. R. Purdy

DURING a study of the tempering of ß-quenched alloys of cobalt in titanium, parallel lines were observed crossing certain faces of retained-ß crystals in the early stages of tempering, Fig. 1. The lines closely resemble stress-induced martensite&apos; or substructures attributed to clusters of faults in titanium-nickel2 and copper-silicon3 alloys. The markings were observed only in intensely etched quenched and tempered alloys having compositions ranging from 4.5 pct* Co (the composi- formed by the lines was reproduced upon repolishing and reetching. Close metallographic examination indicated that the markings were troughs, Fig. 2, and that the characteristic surface substructure persisted within the troughs. The occurrence of the troughs was associated with the age hardening reaction due to the metastable u) phase (previously reported in titanium-cobalt alloys by Raub and Beeskow4 and indicated in this work by the broadening of 0 diffraction peaks and by hardnesses approaching 600 Dph). The troughs

Jan 1, 1961

A. SILVERMAN,* Pittsburgh, Pa.-Prof. Richards has described a very interesting process. In addition to the method described, electroplating and a number of other processes have been used. In one, the two metals were heated and united under hydraulic pressure; in a second, the steel was coated with an alloy, brass for example, and the molten copper cast around this. The process that I would like to bring to the attention of the metallurgists present consists simply of pouring molten copper, brass, or cupronickel around a clean red-hot steel billet. &apos;It is covered by the Roth patents. The 8-in. cylindrical billet containing about 70 per cent. steel (core) and 30 per cent. copper is hot drawn or rolled until several inches in diameter and afterward cold drawn or rolled to rod, wire of any desired diameter, or sheet. The wire is used for electrical conduits where conductivity and high tensile strength are required, also for the manufacture of cables and screen cloth. The sheet is employed for the manufacture of spouting, molding, shells, etc. The last application is particularly interesting. In testing rifle cartridges, which usually contain lead-filled copper noses, pine boards 1 in. thick, covered with ¼ -in. rawhide, are placed 1 ft. apart. The value of the cartridge depends on the number of boards penetrated by .the bullet. In government tests made with copper-coated steel noses (15 per cent. copper on either side of the steel) the penetrating power was found to be approximately double that of pure copper noses. The advantage of copper-coated steel over cupronickel lies in the fact that the- former does not require any special heat treatment during the punching. Rifle cartridges were prepared from copper-coated steel in a number of government arsenals. The value of the combination was attested by the awarding of a contract for the construction of a $3,300,000 plant. Unfortunately, the contract was signed on the day preceding the signing of. the armistice and was cancelled several days later. Tests were conducted for about 1 yr. before the contract was awarded to determine the value of this combination of metals. Since the war a number of cartridge and shell manufacturers have signified their intention of using copper-coated steel.

Jan 4, 1919

By John L. Lamont, Walter Crafts

AN investigation has been made of the multiplying factors for some of the more common alloying and deoxidizing elements for use in calculating hardenability of steel according to Grossmann&apos;s method.1 The factors for manganese, silicon, and aluminum that were reported in an earlier communication2 have been confirmed by microscopic determination of the half-martensite structure rather than on the basis of an empirically determined hardness corresponding to a half-martensite structure. Measurement of ideal critical diameter by microscopic examination was found to he necessary for other alloying elements, and multiplying factors for nickel, chromium, molybdenum, zirconium, vanadium, titanium, and boron have been determined. The nature and order of magnitude of the multiplying factors reflect the effect of the alloying elements on the structural character of the steel. Except for nickel and vanadium, the multiplying factors agree fairly well with previously published results. Good correlation between actual and calculated ideal critical diameters has been found in developing the multiplying factors and in checking the results against fairly simple steels. However, some discrepancies have suggested the need for a more thorough study of low-carbon and complex steels. TESTING PROCEDURE The investigation was conducted principally on steels made at the Union Carbide and Carbon Research Laboratories, Inc., in high-frequency induction furnaces using Armco iron and standard alloying materials. However, a few open-hearth steels were used in establishing the effect of nickel, and the hardenability factor for boron was based primarily on open-hearth steels. All bars were normalized prior to the machining of Jominy hardenability specimens. The Jominy test was carried out under conditions standard for the test.3 Austenitizing temperatures judged to-be-appropriate for the composi¬tions of the steels were used., Chemical analysis was determined on a sample taken adjacent to the Jominy specimen. Residual amounts of phosphorus, sulphur, nickel, chromium, molybdenum, and copper were determined on only one heat of each group made with the same materials during the same period. "Acid-soluble" aluminum and zirconium rather than total amounts were determined, as it is considered probable that the acid-soluble amount is more representative of the effective alloy. As tin was present to the extent of only 0.002 per cent, its effect was neglected. The method used to determine boron in the steels shown in Table 9* was developed by Galen Porter, Vincent Napoleon, and Thomas R. Cunningham,of the Union Carbide and Carbon Research Laboratories, Inc., and is. a modification of J. Naftel&apos;s procedure for boron in soils

Jan 1, 1944

By W. J. Taylor

SOME eight years ago I became interested to a considerable extent in one of the well-known deposits of sulphury iron ore in New Jersey, and, as a consequence, soon became interested in the subject of the elimination of the sulphur. On investigation I found that no department of pig-iron manufacture had received less attention than that of roasting or calcining ores for the elimination of sulphur, carbonic acid, water, etc. My first devices to eliminate sulphur were naturally in the lime-kiln line, with solid fuel mixed with the ore, in the same way as common lime is burnt with small coal. While this process will succeed tolerably well for carbonates or calcareous ores, even though they contain sulphur as sulphates, I soon found it would not answer for our magnetites, which are very hard and dense, carrying from 2 to 5 per cent. of sulphur as pyrites, and become very sticky as soon as any attempt is made to roast them at a high heat. Some laboratory experiments developed the fact that the nearer the gaseous current surrounding the hot ore approached in composition pure atmospheric air the more rapidly the sulphur was oxidized, while in an atmosphere composed largely of carbonic oxide, carbonic acid, and nitrogen, it seemed almost impossible to reduce the sulphur more than one-half, which was a confirmation of the well-known fact that just one-half of the sulphur in pyrites volatilizes very easily, and that the trouble is mainly to remove the remainder. It was thus apparent that the atmosphere surrounding the ore was of as much importance as the temperature. This led to the trial of a kiln to heat the ore by conduction through the brick. It was divided into ore-chambers, which were surrounded with flues, through which the products of combustion of gaseous fuel passed without coming in contact with the ore. We did not, however, succeed by this arrangement in getting more than a cherry-red heat, which, of course, was too low to accomplish anything. I had at this point become convinced – 1st. That gaseous fuel only would accomplish the work successfully. 2d. That since a high temperature was required to insure a rapid oxidation of the sulphur, and also to make the ore open and porous,

Jan 1, 1881

By Wesley G. Josephson

THE MINING PROPERTY of the Argonaut Mining Co., Jackson, Calif., is one of the oldest on the Mother Lode. A vein outcropping on a hill in this section could not long elude the eye of the forty-niner, so it was first discovered in 1850. From that time until 1893 the Pioneer mine, as it was then called, limped along under various poorly equipped and financed operators who tried tapping it by trenching and tunneling. Then the Argonaut Mining Co. took over the property and sank the present 65° inclined shaft in the hanging wall of the vein. The mine workings have now reached the 6000-ft. level, which is 5283 ft. vertically below the surface, or just 3 ft. over a mile. The total production of the mine is uncertain, because of lack of early records, but from 1893 to 1932 it is known to have produced in excess of $17,000,000.

Jan 1, 1932

By AIME AIME

ARGUMENTS and discussions were not lacking either Wednesday or Thursday mornings, when the geophysicists got together. The first session, under the chairmanship of Paul Weaver, was devoted largely to theoretical papers, except for the first one by F. W. Lee, which was a progress report. This speaker mentioned some of the high lights of geophysical exploration during the last year, such as the recently announced extension of the Rand gold fields through magnetic exploration, and the continued activity in the oil fields of this country. Even this brought forth some disagreements, Paul Weaver feeling that credit was being given geophysics where it was not due for the discovery of certain oil fields. In this criticism Everette DeGolyer concurred, and both agreed that geophysicists must lean over backward when it comes to taking credit for discoveries. The troublesome question of interpreting resistivity curves is always being aired, and Lynn G. Howell&apos;s paper, presented briefly by the chairman, served to clear up a moot point raised last year by M. King Hubbert&apos;s work. By use of Maxwell&apos;s theory of images the author calculated that the effect of a thin, conductive sheet placed perpendicularly across the middle of a four electrode system should bring the resistivity curve up to a figure equivalent to the resistivity of the surrounding medium, but no higher. Variations from this he explained as being due to dirt on the surface of the sheet. The difficult question of interpreting three-layer curves was tackled bravely in Thomas Manhart&apos;s paper, presented in abstract by S. F. Kelly. The author seems to be attaining some success through dividing three-layer curves into two approximation curves of the two-layer type.

Jan 1, 1933

By C. Ernest Birchenall, Robert F. Mehl

Application of diffusion laws in the customary form to experimental studies in binary metallic solid solutions has shown the diffusion cocfficient to vary with concentration for all systems investigated. The factors determining this variation have not been ascertained. However, the question of whether the diffusion coefficient would become a constant, independent of concentration throughout a single phase if the concentration gradient in the diffusion equation were replaced by an activity gradient has been an attractive subject for speculation. Wagner¹ derived an expression for the force acting on a diffusing particle in terms of the chemical potential. This was also the approach chosen by Jost2 in his monograph. From a somewhat different point of view, Eyring3 and his co-workers have used activity gradients when dealing with diffusion in concentrated nonideal solutions. The only actual test with experimental data is that given by Darken,4 though this is more qualitative than quantitative. Many others opposed the application in any way of thermodynamic concepts to kinetic phenomena, including diffusion processes. A rigorous examination of this principle requires good data expressing the relationship between activity and concentration for solid solutions for which reliable diffusion work has been done. The literature provides such information only for the interstitial solution of carbon in gamma iron (austenite) and for the substitutional copper-zinc solutions (alpha brass). Activity data for carbon in austenite at 800°C and 1000°C are available from the recent work of Smith5 on the equilibrium of hydrogen-methane and carbon monoxide-carbon dioxide mixtures with gamma iron. Combining these with the diffusion studies of Wells and Mehl6 makes possible a quantitative test for this interstitial solid solution. The vapor-pressure determinations for zinc over brass by Hargreaves7 allowed the calculation of activities in this system over a wide range of temperatures and concentrations. Extensive investigation of diffusion in this substitutional solid solution has been carried out by Rhines and Mehl.8 Activities in Brass9 If the vapor phase of zinc is assumed to behave as an ideal gas, any solid or liquid solutions that are in equilibrium with the same partial pressure of zinc at the same temperature have the same thermodynamic activity of zinc. In order to assign a numerical value to the activity azn, it is necessary to choose some standard reference state to which an activity value of unity is arbitrarily assigned. It is customary to choose the liquid or solid state of the pure material. Then azn is defined numerically by

Jan 1, 1947

By C. Ernest Birchenall, Robert F. Mehl

Application of diffusion laws in the customary form to experimental studies in binary metallic solid solutions has shown the diffusion cocfficient to vary with concentration for all systems investigated. The factors determining this variation have not been ascertained. However, the question of whether the diffusion coefficient would become a constant, independent of concentration throughout a single phase if the concentration gradient in the diffusion equation were replaced by an activity gradient has been an attractive subject for speculation. Wagner¹ derived an expression for the force acting on a diffusing particle in terms of the chemical potential. This was also the approach chosen by Jost2 in his monograph. From a somewhat different point of view, Eyring3 and his co-workers have used activity gradients when dealing with diffusion in concentrated nonideal solutions. The only actual test with experimental data is that given by Darken,4 though this is more qualitative than quantitative. Many others opposed the application in any way of thermodynamic concepts to kinetic phenomena, including diffusion processes. A rigorous examination of this principle requires good data expressing the relationship between activity and concentration for solid solutions for which reliable diffusion work has been done. The literature provides such information only for the interstitial solution of carbon in gamma iron (austenite) and for the substitutional copper-zinc solutions (alpha brass). Activity data for carbon in austenite at 800°C and 1000°C are available from the recent work of Smith5 on the equilibrium of hydrogen-methane and carbon monoxide-carbon dioxide mixtures with gamma iron. Combining these with the diffusion studies of Wells and Mehl6 makes possible a quantitative test for this interstitial solid solution. The vapor-pressure determinations for zinc over brass by Hargreaves7 allowed the calculation of activities in this system over a wide range of temperatures and concentrations. Extensive investigation of diffusion in this substitutional solid solution has been carried out by Rhines and Mehl.8 Activities in Brass9 If the vapor phase of zinc is assumed to behave as an ideal gas, any solid or liquid solutions that are in equilibrium with the same partial pressure of zinc at the same temperature have the same thermodynamic activity of zinc. In order to assign a numerical value to the activity azn, it is necessary to choose some standard reference state to which an activity value of unity is arbitrarily assigned. It is customary to choose the liquid or solid state of the pure material. Then azn is defined numerically by

Jan 1, 1947