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The kinetic theory of gases deals not only with gases in thermodynamic equilibrium, but also very importantly with gases not in thermodynamic equilibrium. This means using Kinetic Theory to consider what are known as "transport properties", such as viscosity, thermal conductivity, mass diffusivity and thermal diffusion.
Gas kinetics is a science in the branch of fluid dynamics, concerned with the study of motion of gases and its effects on physical systems.Based on the principles of fluid mechanics and thermodynamics, gas dynamics arises from the studies of gas flows in transonic and supersonic flights.
For example, if two systems of ideal gases are in joint thermodynamic equilibrium across an immovable diathermal wall, then P 1 V 1 / N 1 = P 2 V 2 / N 2 where P i is the pressure in the ith system, V i is the volume, and N i is the amount (in moles, or simply the number of atoms) of gas.
Boltzmann's kinetic theory of gases was one of the first attempts to explain macroscopic properties, such as pressure and temperature, in terms of the behaviour of individual atoms and molecules. Although many chemists were already accepting the existence of atoms and molecules, the broader physics community took some time to embrace this view.
Carlo Cercignani (17 June 1939 in Teulada – 7 January 2010 in Milan) was an Italian mathematician known for his work on the kinetic theory of gases. His contributions to the study of Boltzmann's equation include the proof of the H-theorem for polyatomic gases. [1] [2] [3] The Cercignani conjecture is named after him. [4]
Perhaps the greatest success of the kinetic theory of gases, as it came to be called, was the discovery that for gases, the temperature as measured on the Kelvin (absolute) temperature scale is directly proportional to the average kinetic energy of the gas molecules. Graham's law for diffusion could thus be understood as a consequence of the ...
The kinetic theory of gases applies to the classical ideal gas, which is an idealization of real gases. In real gases, there are various effects (e.g., van der Waals interactions , vortical flow, relativistic speed limits, and quantum exchange interactions ) that can make their speed distribution different from the Maxwell–Boltzmann form.
According to the assumptions of the kinetic theory of ideal gases, one can consider that there are no intermolecular attractions between the molecules, or atoms, of an ideal gas. In other words, its potential energy is zero. Hence, all the energy possessed by the gas is the kinetic energy of the molecules, or atoms, of the gas.