Dielectric constant of deuterium oxide

Abstract

An equal ratio-arm, capacitance-con ductance bridge operated at frcq ue ncie below 100 kilocycles per sccond was used to meas ure t he dielec tric constant of de uterium ox ide wi Lh an accuracy of 0.1 percent or better in t he range 4° to 100° C. A val ue of 77 .9-l was found for the dielectric cons tant a t 25° C. The data fi t t he relation. = 87.482-(OA 0509)t + (9.638 X 10-4)12-(1.333 X 10-6)13, with a maximum de viation of less than 0.01 uni t in di electri c co nstan t. These val ues we re obtained by using a sample ha\ ing a deuterium ox ide content of 99.38 mole percent. D eviation of t hese values from those for pure de uterium oxide, as a res ult of isotopic contamination , is estimated to b e less t han 0.005 unit. So me aspects of the t emperatme depe ndence of the dielectric constant and of that of a mac roscopic pola ri zation are disc ussed .