The solution at revision #18488 of , by naz. This is not the current version.

Statement

5.4.16∗. Between two flat parallel plates located at a distance from each other, there is a monatomic gas (the free path of atoms is much longer than ). Estimate the heat flux density if the temperature of the plates is maintained at T and , respectively, and the unit volume of gas contains atoms; is the mass of the atom

Solution

In the classical case, the heat flux is determined by the formula:

However, for the sake of clarity, it would be fair to ignore the coefficient . It should also be noted that for , the mean free path of the molecules is determined by the distance . Also, given the smallness of , the derivative can be considered equal to . The gas is monatomic, meaning . We'll take the average velocity to be equal to the root-mean-square value: . Hence, the final formula for the flux density is:

Answer