The original version of this program was written by Morten Brydensholt in
collaboration with J. Hasbun during the
OSP Summer 2003 workshop at Davidson College. This version of the program
has most recently been modified by
J. Hasbun. -Brownian Motion
(Robert Brown, 1828) refers to the motion developed by a particle supended
in a liquid. The random motion seen is due to random collisions suffered
by the suspended particle with the molecules in the liquid. The molecules
in the liquid move about in a random way and when they encounter the
suspended particle and collide, the suspended particle's momentum is
changed. -In this simulation, the suspended particle is colored red. Its
mass can be changed to see its effect. Basically, if the particle's mass
is large, the motion is less random because of it large momentum. But, as
the particle's mass decreases, the motion is susceptible to more random
changes than if the particle's mass is large. Such effect might play an
important role in nanotechnology issues. -The simulation starts with
random positions and velocities of the molecules as well as the particle.
The suspended particle is visible at all times, but the liquid's molecules
can only be seen if desired. Momentum is conserved by looking at
collisions due to particle pairs, such that during a pair collision, v1=(
2*m2*v2 + (m1-m2)*v1 )/(m1+m2), and v2=( 2*m1*v1 + (m2-m1)*v2 )/(m1+m1).
The motion is modeled by solving the differential equations dVx/dt=Fx/m,
and dVy/dt=Fy/m, with Fx, and Fy being the forces due to the walls. We let
these forces take a constant value when the particle enters the wall
region. For example, Fx=Fo if x <= left wall and Fx=-Fo if x>=right wall;
Fy=Fo if y<=bottom wall, and Fy=-Fo if y>= top wall position. Note, there
are times when the particles gain too much momentum and looks like they
want to get out of the box. In such case, one needs to reset the
simulation because the conservation of energy property is not stricktly
enforced thus far.