Statistical Mechanics · Problem 6.17

Ideal Bose Systems — R. K. Pathria

Physics — Statistical Mechanics · relative-speed-two-molecules-maxwellian

Problem

Show that the mean value of the relative speed of two molecules in a Maxwellian gas is 2\sqrt{2} times the mean speed of a molecule with respect to the walls of the container. [Note that a similar result for the root-mean-square speeds (instead of the mean speeds) holds under much more general conditions.]

Related theory

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