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Questions tagged [mean-free-path]

The average length that a molecule will travel in a fluid before colliding with another molecule.

3 votes
1 answer
12k views

Formula for mean free path in two dimensions

I'm running some simulations of particle collisions in two dimensions with discretised time and space. In essence, particles only collide if they occupy the same location (cell) at the same time step. ...
WizzPhiz's user avatar
19 votes
3 answers
3k views

Rigorous derivation of the mean free path in a gas

Can anyone supply me with a derivation of the mean free path, of particles in a Maxwell Boltzmann Gas? Cited in various literature is the formula, \begin{align} \begin{split} \ell&=\frac{1}{\...
user400188's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
7k views

RMS Free Path vs Mean Free Path

I am trying to determine the mathematical difference between mean free path and root-mean-square free path. For an ideal gas, the relaxation time is $$\tau=\frac{1}{\sqrt2 \pi nd^2 \bar v}$$ and the ...
Greg Harrington's user avatar
10 votes
4 answers
3k views

Do photons slow down this much in the Sun's gravitational field?

I just heard someone mention that photons take 40 thousand years to travel from the centre of the Sun to its surface which is roughly 700,000 kilometres. How is that possible if the speed of light/...
user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why is the mean free path length of an electron in a solid described by a "universal curve"? (doesn't include electron density)

I've been experimenting with XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) and learned that the depth from which the observed electrons originated depends on their mean free path length, which makes sense to ...
Wihtedeka's user avatar
  • 2,068
3 votes
3 answers
5k views

Mean free path of UV photon

I was wondering if there's a simple way to compute the mean free path of UV photons in a optically thick medium with density n. I've looked up at the literature ...
Brian's user avatar
  • 83
2 votes
1 answer
181 views

How does $\frac{\langle v\rangle}{\langle v_r\rangle}=\frac{1}{\sqrt2}$ imply the formula for the mean free path?

In this question, it was asked how the formula $$l=\frac{1}{\sqrt 2n\sigma }$$ can be rigorously derived for a Maxwell-Boltzmann gas. Here $l$ is the mean free path length in a gas, $n$ is the gas ...
Riemann's user avatar
  • 1,440
1 vote
3 answers
752 views

In particle physics what is the derivation of the mean free path length: $\ell=\frac{1}{n \sigma}$?

From my lecture notes (ICL, dept. of Physics) it is written: Consider a thin piece of material with thickness $d$ containing target particles with number density $n$, as illustrated in Figure $\bf{2....
BLAZE's user avatar
  • 2,470