Fundamental equation of state of liquid nitromethane to 100 kbar

Shock‐compression experiments were performed on specimens of nitromethane for several values of initial temperature. From these data, a continuum of Hugoniots centered at any initial temperature between the atmospheric pressure freezing and boiling states was obtained. The energy‐pressure‐volume equation of state then followed from a combination of the known variation of energy with temperature along the atmospheric pressure isobar and the Hugoniot jump relations. The energy‐entropy‐volume equation was generated by a numerical integration of the coupled differential equations governing the entropy and temperature variation along a Hugoniot. This work is believed to constitute the first totally experimental determination of the equation of state of a liquid in the 100 kbar region.