(Just a preface that I tried /askscience to see but it was a bit complicated for me)
In the question I mean: do particles (eg gas) move truly randomly or is there a method behind the “random”?
Thank you!
In: Physics
I think it depends on the conditions and how you define random. Given enough information, you could calculate the trajectory of each molecule probably, but that’s not really practical. As such, without information to the opposite, they are moving ‘randomly’.
Condition wise, air is a homogeneous mixture of gases, so yes it’s a random mixture in that the concentrations of each is going to equal in all samples you take of that air. Now, if I have some dry ice on a desk, the CO2 molecules from that ice are going to be on average traveling away from the ice due to the concentration difference. Air close to ice has more CO2. No longer homogeneous air in that rooom untill it evens out. Diffusion is on of those things that impacts everything, but it’s still a ‘random’ process leading to a general trend in the chaos. 🙂
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