John Lennard-Jones Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-11-05
John Lennard-Jones used gas-transport measurements to constrain models of intermolecular forces. His 1924 work connects the temperature dependence of viscosity with an assumed force law. The familiar modern Lennard-Jones potential represents short-range repulsion and longer-range attraction as . Its minimum at has depth , making the two parameters physically interpretable. This 12–6 form is a simplified interaction model, rather than an exact force law for every atom pair.[ref]
On the determination of molecular fields. I. From the variation of the viscosity of a gas with temperature by John Lennard-Jones. Proceedings of the Royal Society A 106, 441–462 (1924); potential written in its familiar modern form
Portrait of John Lennard-Jones
. Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge. CC BY 2.0. Source.