In physics, the mean free path is the average distance travelled by a moving particle (such as an atom, a molecule, a photon) between successive impacts (collisions) which modify its direction or energy or other particle properties.
Read more about Mean Free Path: Derivation, Mean Free Path in Kinetic Theory, Mean Free Path in Radiography, Mean Free Path in Particle Physics, Mean Free Path in Nuclear Physics, Mean Free Path in Optics, Mean Free Path in Acoustics, Examples
Famous quotes containing the words free and/or path:
“It is among the ranks of school-age children, those six- to twelve-year-olds who once avidly filled their free moments with childhood play, that the greatest change is evident. In the place of traditional, sometimes ancient childhood games that were still popular a generation ago, in the place of fantasy and make- believe play . . . today’s children have substituted television viewing and, most recently, video games.”
—Marie Winn (20th century)
“Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven,
Whilst like a puffed and reckless libertine
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,
And recks not his own rede.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)