MAXWELL, JAMES CLERK. - THE KINETIC THEORY OF GASES.

The Bakerian Lecture. - On the Viscosity or Internal Friction of Air and other Gases. Received November 23, 1865 (+) Postscript.- Received December 7, 1865. - Read February 8, 1866.

(London, Taylor and Francis, 1866). Large 4to. Without wrappers. Extracted from "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.", Vol. 156 - Part I. Pp. 249-268 a. 1 lithographed plate. A few brownspots to the plate. Having the titlepage to vol. 156 - Part I. A few brownspots to lower margins.

First appearance of a major paper in the kinetic theory of gases, in which Maxwell proved that the viscosity was independent of pressure as predicted, and nearly a linear function of the absolute temperature T.
One of Maxwell's major investigations was on the kinetic theory of gases. Originating with Daniel Bernoulli, this theory was advanced by the successive labours of John Herapath, John James Waterston, James Joule, and particularly Rudolf Clausius, to such an extent as to put its general accuracy beyond a doubt; but it received enormous development from Maxwell, who in this field appeared as an experimenter (on the laws of gaseous friction) as well as a mathematician.

"James Clerk Maxwell published a famous paper in 1866 (the paper offered) using the kinetic theory of gases to study gaseous viscosity. The internal friction (the viscosity) of the gas is determined by the probability a particle of layer A enters layer B with a corresponding transfer of momentum. Maxwell's calculations showed him that the viscosity coefficient is proportional to both the density, the mean free path and the mean velocity of the atoms. On the other hand, the mean free path is inversely proportional to the density. So an increase of pressure doesn't result in any change of the viscosity.

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