Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: neilep on 03/10/2004 19:34:33
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Is it safe to say that where ever I put my incense in my study when I'm working that Brownian Motion will guarantee my nose a decent odour full ? (notwithstanding drafts )
If I was to turn my study into a vacuum and then introduced my incense smoke , would the Brownian Motion not work ?...or is it that once I've introduced my incense smoke into my vacuum orientated study that, that would then mean there's no vaccuum ?
I don't know If I've asked this correctly as there is a vacuum in my head !!(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ethanwiner.com%2FSmileys%2FScatter.gif&hash=9886e704731426142096aa3d29ed3539)
'Men are the same as women...just inside out !' (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.world-of-smilies.de%2Fhtml%2Fimages%2Fsmilies%2FSchilder2%2Finsanes.gif&hash=4f18432872d0188852a6f4a3170ec758)
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You can't burn your incense in a vacuum. If you burn the incense in a chamber and vent the smoke-filled chamber into the vacuum, you're right, it's not a vacuum any more. If you turn on the vacuum pump, it will pump out most of what you introduced. The larger particles of smoke will fall to the ground as dust, since they cannot float on air. The gasseous combustion products will be pumped out, and you get no odor. Somewhat like sound, there is no odor in a vacuum. Actually, I can't recommend that you go into a vacuum chamber and even attempt to smell your incense, since you can't breath in there either.
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Thanks gsmollin...I was beginning to think that this was a question no one was going to answer...but will brownian motion in my non-vacuumless study still give my nostrils a healthy dose where ever I put the incense ?....I suspect the answer is yes eh ?
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"Brownian motion" is a term given to vibratory motion visible in small particles floating on the surface tension of a liquid, usually water. It is a favorite science demo, and illustrates the kinetic theory of temperature.
The kinetic nature of temperature is certainly important to your incense odor moving through the room, from a region of high concentration, to a region of low concentration, without the aid of a conventional transport mechanism, such as a draft. The correct term is "diffusion".
Incidently, "brownian motion" was my favorite description of the actions of the people in my department at a previous employer, when they weren't operating on the plan.