Damped oscillatory motion and internal friction in bulk polyatomic gases

A modified version of Ruchardt's experiment is used to measure the bulk moduli and relaxation times for damped oscillations in five gases with low gamma=C-p/C-v (CHClF2, CHCl2F, C2Cl2F4, C2F6, C4F8). The results support the theoretical prediction that the internal friction is small for gases with gamma approximate to 1 (and not too large a thermal diffusivity). Two types of damped oscillation are observed: (i) Initial oscillations which are intermediate between the adiabatic and isothermal extremes. These oscillations occur if the initial amplitude exceeds a threshold value which increases with the volume of gas. (ii) The ensuing oscillations in the tail. For the latter, the measured relaxation times are consistent with isothermal values. However, the bulk moduli are appreciably lower than the corresponding isothermal values, and the disparity increases as the atomicity of the gas increases. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-9606(99)00327-X].