The Effect of Magnetic and Configurational Ordering on the Specific Heat of a Nickel-50 Atomic Per Cent Palladium Alloy

Introduction: Alloy systems in which local order exists have been extensively studied in recent years, and these studies have increased greatly the understanding of the effect of local-ordering on the physical, mechanical, and thermodynamic properties of these alloy systems (9, 14, 26).

At the present time, in the Department of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at The University of Tennessee, studies of the phenomenon of order-disorder in several alloy systems are being made through x-ray diffuse scattering, electrical resistivity, and specific heat anomalies. This investigation is a continuation of these studies.

So that the reader may understand the basis for research on the nickel-palladium system and the interpretation of the results, the author had divided his introductory remarks into two sections. The first section reviews previous experimental work on the nickel-palladium system and the conclusions reached by the investigators. The second section is a rather brief introduction into the theory of specific heats with an emphasis placed upon the effects of order-disorder reactions on the specific heat.