Answer to Question #181861 in Molecular Physics | Thermodynamics for Satyam

Question

What is root mean square velocity.

Answer 1

The term root mean square velocity is applied to the velocity of atoms or molecules in the gas. It is defined as the square root of

$\displaystyle <v^2> = \int_0 ^\infty v^2 f(v) dv$

where f(v) is Maxwell distribution.

After the computation of this internal, one gets formula

$\displaystyle \sqrt{<v^2>} = \sqrt{\frac{3kT}{m}}$

where m is a mass of atom/molecula.