MEAN FREE PATH

Mean free path, average distance an object will move

between collisions. The actual distance a particle, such as
a molecule in a gas, will move before a collision, called free
path, cannot generally be given because its calculation
would require knowledge of the path of every particle in the
region.

The probability
dP = e-x/μdx 
Means of Mean Free Path
 Means of Mean Free Path
The mean free path is the average distance traveled by a
moving molecule between collisions.
Example of application in everyday life:
Imagine gas leaking out of a pipe.

This figure shows a ball traveling in a box.

The mean free path or average distance between collisions for a gas
molecule may be estimated from kinetic theory. Serway's approach is a
good visualization, if the molecules have diameter d, then the effective
cross-section for collision can be modeled by:

Using a circle of diameter 2d to represent a molecule's effective

collision area while treating the "target" molecules as point masses. In
time t, the circle would sweep out the volume shown and the number of
collisions can be estimated from the number of gas molecules that
were in that volume.
The mean free path could then be taken as the length of the path
divided by the number of collisions.

the average molecular velocity is used, but the target molecules are
also moving. The frequency of collisions depends upon the average
relative velocity of the randomly moving molecules.
The average relative velocity, and the calculation of that velocity from
the molecular speed distribution yields the result:

which revises the expression for the effective volume swept out in time
(t)
The resulting mean free path is:

The number of molecules per unit volume can be determined

from Avogadro's number and the ideal gas law, leading to

Expression for the mean free path of molecules treats them as hard
spheres, whereas real molecules are not. For noble gases, the
collisions are probably close to being perfectly elastic, so the hard
sphere approximation is probably a good one. But real molecules may
have a dipole moment and have significant electrical interaction as they
approach each other.
Factors Affecting Mean Free Path
 Factors Affecting Mean Free Path

Density : As gas density increases, the molecules

become closer to each other. Therefore, they are
more likely to run into each other, so the mean free
path decreases.
 Factors Affecting Mean Free Path

Increasing the number of molecules or decreasing

the volume causes density to increase. This
decreases the mean free path.
 Factors Affecting Mean Free Path

Radius of molecule: Increasing the radii of the

molecules decreases the space between them,
causing them to run into each other more often.
Therefore, the mean free path decreases.
 Factors Affecting Mean Free Path

Pressure, temperature, and other factors that affect

density can indirectly affect mean free path. As the
pressure increases at constant temperature, the
mean free path decreases.
 Factors Affecting Mean Free Path

As the volume increases at constant

temperature, the mean free path increases. As
the molecules move into the expanded
volume, they move further apart from each
other.
Factors Affecting Mean Free Path

As the temperature is increased the molecules

are moving faster, but the average distance
between them is not affected. The mean time
between collisions decreases, but the mean
distance traveled between collisions remains the
same.
 Factors Affecting Mean Free Path

As the size of the molecules increases, the mean

free path decreases. The collision diameter, d,
appears in the denominator of the equation.
Larger molecules do not have to travel as far
before they run into each other.
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