We have measured pressures p and temperatures T corresponding to the maximum nucleation rateof argon in a cryogenic supersonic nozzle apparatus where the estimated nucleation rates are J=10~(17±1)cm~(-3)s~(-1). AsTincreases from 34 to 53 K,pincreases 0.47 8 kPa. Under theseconditions, classical nucleation theory predicts nucleation rates of 11-13 orders of magnitude lowerthan the observed rates while mean field kinetic nucleation theory predicts the observed rates within1 order of magnitude. The current data set appears consistent with the measurements of Hand et al.[J. Chem. Phys. 127, 154506 (2007)] in the cryogenic nucleation pulse chamber. Combining the twodata sets suggests that classical nucleation theory fails because it overestimates both the criticalcluster size and the excess internal energy of the critical clusters.
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