Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 9, 2026

Analyzing Melts and Fluids from Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations with the UMD Package
Published on: September 17, 2021
A Hundred-Year-Old Experiment Re-evaluated: Accurate Ab Initio Monte Carlo Simulations of the Melting of Radon
Odile R Smits1,2, Paul Jerabek1,2, Elke Pahl1,2
1The New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study and the Institute for Natural and Mathematical Science, Massey University (Albany), 0632, Auckland, New Zealand.
Abstract:
State-of-the-art relativistic coupled-cluster theory is used to construct many-body potentials for the noble-gas element radon to determine its bulk properties including the solid-to-liquid phase transition from parallel tempering Monte Carlo simulations through either direct sampling of the bulk or from a finite cluster approach. The calculated melting temperature are 200(3) K and 200(6) K from bulk simulations and from extrapolation of finite cluster values, respectively. This is in excellent agreement with the often debated (but widely cited) and only available value of 202 K, dating back to measurements by Gray and Ramsay in 1909.
More Related Videos
10:27Contrast-Matching Detergent in Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Experiments for Membrane Protein Structural Analysis and Ab Initio Modeling
Published on: October 21, 2018
12:11Computation of Atmospheric Concentrations of Molecular Clusters from ab initio Thermochemistry
Published on: April 8, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
Comparing Intermolecular Forces: Melting Point, Boiling Point, and Miscibility
Temporary attractive forces like dispersion are present in all molecules, whether they are polar or nonpolar. They...
What is an Experiment?
Thomson's e/m Experiment
A particle with charge q, speed v, and mass m enters an area from the top, where the magnetic and electric fields are perpendicular both to the particle's motion and to one another. The magnetic...
Controls in Experiments
Randomized Experiments
Simple randomization
Simple...