Kinetic Theory
2 guided lessons · 18 checks · 5. Solids, Liquids and Gases → Ideal Gases
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Random motion of gas molecules
Gas molecules never rest: they travel in straight lines at hundreds of metres per second until a collision sends them off in a new direction. The motion is random — no direction is preferred — and that randomness is the seed of every gas law.
What you know already
Pressure is not a substance pushing — it is quadrillions of tiny collisions adding up. This note follows one gas molecule from collision to collision and shows how random motion plus wall impacts produce a steady, measurable pressure on every wall of the container.
Key points of understanding
- Gas molecules move with rapid, random motion in all directions.
- Between collisions each molecule travels in a straight line at constant speed.
- Collisions with other molecules and with the container walls change a molecule's direction.
- No direction of travel is preferred because the motion is random.
- The random directions average out, so the gas fills its container uniformly.
Random motion of gas molecules in a container, caused by collisions
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1.Random motion of gas molecules
Gas molecules never rest: they travel in straight lines at hundreds of metres per second until a collision sends them off in a new direction. The motion is random — no direction is preferred — and that randomness is the seed of every gas law.
Random motion of gas molecules in a container, caused by collisions
Key points
- Gas molecules move with rapid, random motion in all directions.
- Between collisions each molecule travels in a straight line at constant speed.
- Collisions with other molecules and with the container walls change a molecule's direction.
Guided content from the SME authoring corpus — note rn_6Pp9dDJX4bzTJvHh, pinned at 8788fc85a2c1 · promoted SyllabAI/syllabai-resources b3caaaa90c5e
