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**Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe**

"tadchem" wrote in message
oups.com...

tadchem wrote:
wrote:

snip

For the physicists: what's the AVERAGE velocity of the nitrogen
molucules at 25 degree C & atmospheric pressure ?

From kinetic molecular theory of gases:

The *most probable* velocity (peak of the distribution)
c(p) = SQRT(2*k*T/m)

The average scalar velocity
c-bar = SQRT(8*k*T/pi*m)

The velocity of the molecule with average kinetic energy
SQRT(c^2-bar) = SQRT(3*k*T/m)

where k = Boltzmann's constant, T is absolute temperature, and m is
molecular mass.
...

Is this the point to jump in and argue that velocity is a vector quantity
and, therefore, the AVERAGE velocity is nearly zero? I would think that with
a little effort, it should be possible to spin this thread off into a
urinating contest about units or something like that.

:-)

--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
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