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

"We were able to retrieve this quantity -- known as the effective electron mean free path -- from the experimental data thanks to a specifically developed analytical model which accounts for the scattering of the electrons."

From Science Daily

"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

An international team of researchers has now demonstrated that it is possible to probe electron dynamics in liquids using intense laser fields and to retrieve the electron's mean free path -- the average distance an electron can travel before colliding with another particle.

From Science Daily

In “Mean Free Path,” a collection of poetry published in 2010, Ben Lerner kicked off a stanza like this: “There must be an easier way to do this/I mean without writing.”

From New York Times

It is capable of exciting phosphorescence at comparatively low degrees of exhaustion, and also projects shadows at pressures far greater than those at which the mean free path is comparable to the dimensions of the vessel.

From Project Gutenberg