Every month the LIC will recommend a free of charge chemical information resource based on our experiences of answering members' queries at the Chemical Enquiries Help Desk.

You may find this regular feature useful for

• improving the scope of your research
• increasing awareness of freely available resources
• finding out more about the potential of familiar resources            

Our resource of this month is Tables of Physical and Chemical Constants, affectionately referred to as Kaye and Laby after two researchers at the Cavendish Laboratory who made a collection of published physical data that has been known for over 90 years as the standard reference book for physical and chemical constants.   

Properties listed include vapour pressures, wavelength standards, solubility products in aqueous solutions, thermal conductivities and elasticities and strengths for organic and inorganic compounds.  The data is conveniently presented in tables and allows for easy comparison with other compounds.

The book can be searched or browsed.  For example entering the words carbon monoxide returns diverse data on the compound including: vapour pressures; specific heat capacities; mean velocity; free path and size of molecules.
Explanations are given for the equations of the relationships governing properties.  Constants and variables are clearly defined.

There is also an interesting page on the careers of Kaye and Laby and the how the world famous tables of data came to be. 

Check out the free of charge chemical information link for other useful resources