Relaxation Of Brownian Particles In A Gravitational Field

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Date

2009-03

Authors

Saka, Halil
Bengtson, Roger D.
Reichl, Linda E.

Journal Title

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Volume Title

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Abstract

We describe an upper level undergraduate experiment on the time-dependent behavior of a suspension of Brownian particles under gravitational attraction. We employed the Fokker-Planck equation in the strong friction limit and measured the time-evolution of the probability distribution for 1.0 mu m diameter latex Brownian particles in water at room temperature and pressure. The experiment provides evidence of the atomic nature of water.

Department

Physics

Description

Keywords

brownian motion, fokker-planck equation, gravitational waves, probability, student experiments, suspensions, teaching, boltzmanns constant, motion, education, scientific disciplines, physics, multidisciplinary

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Citation

Halil Saka, Roger D. Bengtson, Linda E. Reichl. Relaxation Of Brownian Particles In A Gravitational Field. American Journal of Physics, Vol. 77, pp. 240-243 (Mar., 2009), DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.3039029

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/2152/31158

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UT Faculty/Researcher Works