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arXiv · 1309.1197

Is the mean free path the mean of a distribution?

Steve T. Paik
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Abstract

We bring attention to the fact that Maxwell's mean free path for a dilute hard-sphere gas in thermal equilibrium, $(\sqrt{2}\sigma n)^{-1}$, which is ordinarily obtained by multiplying the average speed by the average time between collisions, is also the statistical mean of the distribution of free path lengths in such a gas.

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Steve T. Paik. 2013-09-04. Is the mean free path the mean of a distribution?. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.4869185

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