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Ján Lalinský
Ján Lalinský
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I think Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution should be valid for molecules in liquid too, at least according to classical statistical physics, because the factor $e ^{−\beta p^2/2m}$ in the Gibbs-Boltzmann probability density does not depend on potential energy and is the same whether the molecule is in gas, or a liquid. I do not know if there is a measurement supporting this theoretical result.

are collisions in liquid still (on average) elastic?

Elastic collision means that appreciable change in the kinetic and potential energy of two bodies happens to them only during short time interval and the energy long after that is the same as the energy long before that - the interaction of the two molecules is thought of as a scattering process. In liquids the interaction of the molecules may not be idealizable in this way, as the molecules are believed to be in incessant complicated motion constantly influencing each other (Brownian motion...) This does not seem to be a reason to abandon the Boltzmann'Boltzmann statistics, however.

I think Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution should be valid for molecules in liquid too, at least according to classical statistical physics, because the factor $e ^{−\beta p^2/2m}$ in the Gibbs-Boltzmann probability density does not depend on potential energy and is the same whether the molecule is in gas, or a liquid. I do not know if there is a measurement supporting this theoretical result.

are collisions in liquid still (on average) elastic?

Elastic collision means that appreciable change in the kinetic and potential energy of two bodies happens to them only during short time interval and the energy long after that is the same as the energy long before that - the interaction of the two molecules is thought of as a scattering process. In liquids the interaction of the molecules may not be idealizable in this way, as the molecules are believed to be in incessant complicated motion constantly influencing each other (Brownian motion...) This does not seem to be a reason to abandon the Boltzmann' statistics, however.

I think Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution should be valid for molecules in liquid too, at least according to classical statistical physics, because the factor $e ^{−\beta p^2/2m}$ in the Gibbs-Boltzmann probability density does not depend on potential energy and is the same whether the molecule is in gas, or a liquid. I do not know if there is a measurement supporting this theoretical result.

are collisions in liquid still (on average) elastic?

Elastic collision means that appreciable change in the kinetic and potential energy of two bodies happens to them only during short time interval and the energy long after that is the same as the energy long before that - the interaction of the two molecules is thought of as a scattering process. In liquids the interaction of the molecules may not be idealizable in this way, as the molecules are believed to be in incessant complicated motion constantly influencing each other (Brownian motion...) This does not seem to be a reason to abandon the Boltzmann statistics, however.

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Ján Lalinský
Ján Lalinský
  • 41.3k
  • 1
  • 34
  • 98

I think Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution should be valid for molecules in liquid too, at least according to classical statistical physics, because the factor $e ^{−\beta p^2/2m}$ in the Gibbs-Boltzmann probability density does not depend on potential energy and is the same whether the molecule is in gas, or a liquid. I do not know if there is a measurement supporting this theoretical result.

are collisions in liquid still (on average) elastic?

Elastic collision means that appreciable change in the kinetic and potential energy of two bodies happens to them only during short time interval and the energy long after that is the same as the energy long before that - the interaction of the two molecules is thought of as a scattering process. In liquids the interaction of the molecules may not be idealizable in this way, as the molecules are believed to be in incessant complicated motion constantly influencing each other (Brownian motion...) This does not seem to be a reason to abandon the Boltzmann' statistics, however.