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Fri 8 Mar, 2013 06:56 am
Hi,
Is it possible to express, say, the difference between 2.7 deg K and 0.25 deg K as a pressure difference i.e. in bars, millibars, femtobars etc?
I'm thinking of a void between one galactic cluster and the next and wondering if, although very sparsely populated, whether a region like this can be considered a gas (and use the gas laws - Boyle and Charles... )?
Thanks!
@JeremyF,
JeremyF wrote:I'm thinking of a void between one galactic cluster and the next and wondering if, although very sparsely populated, whether a region like this can be considered a gas (and use the gas laws - Boyle and Charles... )?
Gas laws are useful when there is enough matter to matter. The molecules have to be close enough to interact with each other.
My understanding is that the conditions you describe are too sparse for gas laws to be used.
@JeremyF,
I'd think so Jer but it's a good q and looking fwd to response from those who know
Somewhat OT but I had always wondered what happens to gas at close to that temp and falling. For instance in approach do all the molecules all at once flop to the floor
@JeremyF,
Thanks for that everyone.
So if I can't treat intergalactic space as a gas, what should I treat it as?
??
@dalehileman,
Still wondering what a few gas molecules might do in a vacuum bottle approaching zero K. Would they continue bouncing around or would they eventually settle to the bottom