Density and Thermal Expansion of Liquid Au-Cu Alloys

The density of liquid Cu–Au alloys is measured using the technique of electromagnetic levitation, which entails producing a shadow image of the sample. The shadow is recorded by a digital CCD-camera, and the volume of the sample is calculated by an image processing algorithm. The density and thermal expansion of several alloys and the pure elements copper and gold are investigated at various temperatures above their melting points. In addition, the densities are also investigated as a function of the gold concentration at constant temperature. The measured values agree with literature data and with predictions obtained by molecular dynamics. It was found from data analysis that the ideal solution model applies.