Maxwell speed distribution

Sample thousands of molecules from a gas at temperature T and watch the histogram converge to the Maxwell–Boltzmann curve; read v_p, mean and rms speed, compare gases and temperatures.

About this experiment

What you do in the lab

Change the controls and watch the physics behave in real time in 3D. Live readouts and graphs show the numbers behind it, and the Learn tab has the theory, procedure, observations and viva questions. Works on a phone or a laptop, in English and Hindi.

Topics: Maxwell distribution · speed distribution · rms speed · most probable speed

More from this chapter

• Brownian motion and the Einstein relation
• Degrees of freedom and equipartition of energy
• Boyle's, Charles' and Gay-Lussac's law with molecules
• Kinetic theory: pressure from molecular collisions
• Mean free path and brownian motion