Elastic,Piezoelectric and Dielectric Constants of Pentaerythritol

The elastic, piezoelectric and dielectric constants of pentaerythritol, C(CH₂OH)₄, have been computed employing the method of long waves and the unscreened rigid ion potential model developed by RAMAMOORTHY and KRISHNAMURTHY. Piezoelectric contribution is taken into account in the computation of elastic constants. This is the first report on the piezoelectric and dielectric constants of pentaerythritol. In the notations followed by LANDOLT-BORNSTEIN the computed piezoelectric constants are: _g14 = 4.82, _g15 = 4.37, _g31 = 16.21 and _g36 = 5.89 (in unit of 10^?1Vm/N) and the static dielectric constants are: K₁ = 2.38 and K₃ = 2.47. The hydrogen bonding in pentaerythritol has no effect on its dielectric behaviour. Calculation of acoustic velocities in piezoelectric crystals and as a special case to the crystals of class 4 is explained in detail. Sound velocities calculated from the elastic, piezoelectric and dielectric constants computed in the present investigation agree with the experimental values determined by the ultrasonic method.