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 Rethinking Brownian Motion With The 'Emperor's New Clothes'

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Date posted: 29/07/2009

In the classic fairy tale, "The Emperor's New Clothes," Hans Christian Andersen uses the eyes of a child to challenge conventional wisdom and help others to see more clearly. In similar fashion, researchers at the University of Illinois have now revealed the naked truth about a classic bell-shaped curve used to describe the motion of a liquid as it diffuses through another material.

"The new findings raise fundamental questions concerning the statistical nature of the diffusion process," says Steve Granick, Founder Professor of Engineering, and professor of materials science and engineering, of chemistry, of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and of physics at the U. of I.

"In high school science classes, students are often assigned the task of using a microscope to watch a particle of dust sitting in a drop of water," Granick said. "The dust particle seems alive, moving back and forth, never in the same way. The motion of the dust particle is caused by the random 'kicks' of surrounding water molecules."

See the full Story via external site: www.sciencedaily.com



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