mean free path

American  

noun

Physics, Chemistry.

1. the average distance that a particle travels between successive collisions with other particles.

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mean free path British  

noun

1. the average distance travelled by a particle, atom, etc, between collisions

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mean free path Cultural  

1. The average distance that an object (usually an atom or molecule) can move before colliding with something.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mean free path

"Measuring the effective mean free path of the electrons is very challenging in the low kinetic energy region, as was done in this study, added Yin. "

From Science Daily ● Sep. 29, 2023

The mean free path is the average distance a molecule travels between collisions.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

It is obvious that the length of the mean free path of the molecules of a gas may be increased indefinitely by decreasing the number of the molecules themselves in a circumscribed space.

From A History of Science — Volume 3 by Henry Smith Williams

If, on the other hand, a gas is subjected to pressure, its molecules are crowded closer together, and the length of their mean free path is thus lessened.

From A History of Science — Volume 3 by Henry Smith Williams

The atoms have various vibrations, the extent of which is called the mean free path of vibration; greatest in hydrogen and least in the densest element.

From Second Sight A study of Natural and Induced Clairvoyance by Sepharial