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Mars | 51 |
The number of molecules traveling at speed u is given by the equation,—
just as the probability of an error is given by the equation,
VALUES OF THE SPEEDS.
G = mean value of speed in metres per second.
G'= mean value of speed in miles per second.
Hydrogen | . | . | . | . | . | 1838 | 1.14 | |
Water vapor | . | . | . | . | . | 614 | 0.38 | |
Nitrogen | . | . | . | . | . | 492 | 0.31 | |
Atmospheric air | . | . | . | . | 485 | 0.30 | ||
Oxygen | . | . | . | . | . | . | 461 | 0.29 |
Carbon dioxide | . | . | . | . | 392 | 0.24 | ||
Cyanogen | . | . | . | . | . | 361 | 0.22 |
These speeds are got from the consideration that the energy, from which follows the temperature, is the same in the two gases; and, therefore, that
and, therefore, the speed of the molecule is inversely as the square root of the atomic weight.
Air on Mars.
So far theory. Now it is not a little interesting that observation supports this. That air still exists on Mars, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbonic acid,