Temperature dependence of the thermal expansivity and the specific heat near the nematic-isotropic (NI) phase transition in PAA

Our calculated thermal expansivity is in good agreement with the prediction of Maier and Saupe. Our calculated specific heat is compared with the experimental Cp near the transition temperature TNI. Above and below TNI, calculated and observed Cp exhibit some discrepancies for PAA. Discrepancies may be due to the approximations used in our analysis given here.