kinetic theory

physics
Also known as: kinetic molecular theory of heat

Learn about this topic in these articles:

glass formation

heat

  • Brownian particle
    In Brownian motion: Einstein’s theory of Brownian motion

    …a prominent part of the kinetic theory of gases developed in the third quarter of the 19th century by the physicists James Clerk Maxwell, Ludwig Boltzmann, and Rudolf Clausius in explanation of heat phenomena. According to the theory, the temperature of a substance is proportional to the

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liquid state of matter

  • argon phase diagram
    In liquid: Physical properties of liquids

    …of matter, came with the kinetic molecular theory, which stated that matter consisted of particles in constant motion and that this motion was the manifestation of thermal energy. The greater the thermal energy of the particle, the faster it moved.

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plasma

properties of matter

  • Galileo experiment
    In principles of physical science: Development of the atomic theory

    …the systematic construction of a kinetic theory of matter in which the physicists Ludwig Boltzmann of Austria and J. Willard Gibbs of the United States were the two leading figures. To this may be added Hendrik Lorentz’s electron theory, which explained in satisfying detail many of the electrical properties of…

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linear motion

physics
Also known as: one-dimensional motion, rectilinear motion, uniform motion
Also called:
uniform motion or rectilinear motion
Related Topics:
motion

linear motion, motion in one spatial dimension.

According to Newton’s first law (also known as the principle of inertia), a body with no net force acting on it will either remain at rest or continue to move with uniform speed in a straight line, according to its initial condition of motion. In fact, in classical Newtonian mechanics, there is no important distinction between rest and uniform motion in a straight line; they may be regarded as the same state of motion seen by different observers, one moving at the same velocity as the particle, the other moving at constant velocity with respect to the particle.

A body in motion may be said to have momentum equal to the product of its mass and its velocity. It also has a kind of energy that is entirely due to its motion, called kinetic energy. The kinetic energy of a body of mass m in motion with velocity v is given by K = (1/2)mv2.

Italian-born physicist Dr. Enrico Fermi draws a diagram at a blackboard with mathematical equations. circa 1950.
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This article was most recently revised and updated by Erik Gregersen.