ABSTRACT
This chapter gives a brief review of the Classical Nucleation Theory (CNT) in gases. The CNT gives good predictions for cloud chambers where the size of the critical nucleus is rather large. However, it is not applicable to systems at very high supersaturation degrees such as expansion of gases in supersonic nozzles where the critical nucleus size becomes less than unity. Atomistic theories, such as molecular dynamics, can significantly improve the applicability of the CNT to such systems and improve comparison with experiment. In this chapter, the CNT was modified by adding the kinetic rate coefficients calculated by MD for the high supersaturation case of condensation of metal vapor behind the shock wave front.
