The entropy change on melting of simple substances

It is shown that the volume independent component, R 1n 2, of the entropy of melting, ΔS_m, for argon persists, unchanged, some distance into the fluid phase as a configurational entropy. For argon, sodium, and caesium in its normal melting regime ΔS_m = Rln 2 + αB_TδV_m, where ΔV_m is the volume change on melting and αB_T is the temperature independent product of the thermal expansion coefficient and the isothermal bulk modulus.