Larson's Inter-Atomic Distance Calculations
Larson's Inter-Atomic Distance Calculations
I am checking Larson's inter-atomic distance calculations and getting different numbers than the ones he has published. For example, Larson's inter-atomic distrance for table salt is 2.77 Angstroms (Basic Properties of Matter, page 26). My calculations show 2.82. I am using the LN function in EXCEL to do these calculations which have more significant digits than Larson may have used. But I am sure Larson would have had an excellent calculator to do his work. So this difference is still a mystery too me.
Larson used a slide rule
Larson did his calculations back in the 1960s, before electronic calculators were invented (mid-1970s.; got my first 4-banger around 1974 in High School Didn't have an LN button until I was in college, and that HP-67 cost $850 back then!)But I am sure Larson would have had an excellent calculator to do his work. So this difference is still a mystery too me.
Larson used a slide rule to do the math, so at best, he has 3 significant digits.
It may also be a printing error. I found quite a few of them in BPOM (particularly Table 35).
If the other numbers are coming out correct, send me your spreadsheet of the table and I'll fix the online PDF.
Every dogma has its day...