I get that hot air is less dense, because the molecules are moving faster. But given random Brownian motion of the molecules, why do they move up? What causes the molecules with higher kinetic energy to sort themselves to the top of an air column?
In: Physics
Hot air molecules move around a lot. Think of them moving around in beach balls (less dense). Cold air molecules move around less. Think of them moving in tennis balls (more dense). What happens when you put beach balls and tennis balls in a pit and mix or stir the balls?
The smaller balls go to the bottom and bigger balls go to the top. That’s how it is!
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