Brownian motion or why pollen seems alive
Have you ever observed random and fast movement pollen particles and have you ever wondered if they are alive? Or you’re startled by a seemingly random movement specks of dust in the suspension? Well, this curious dynamic that makes you wonder about the characteristics of microscopic objects has a name: it Brownian motion.
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Brownian motion, named after the Scottish botanist Robert Brown, who made the first observations while studying pollen particles suspended in water in 1827, was a key development in understanding properties and behavior various elements on a microscopic scale, as well as for the development of fundamental theories of physics and chemistry.
By studying this type of movement, scientists have been able to delve deeper into nature molecular motion and all forces acting at the atomic and subatomic level.
WHAT IS THE BROWN MOVEMENT?
Thus, Brownian motion is a physical phenomenon observed in microscopic particles suspended in a liquid, be it water or air. This is a type of movement that is characterized by the fact that random and chaoticwhich means that the particles move completely unpredictably in all directions and at different speeds.
Under a microscope and in detail it appears as continuous and erratic movementwhere particles constantly change direction due to multiple collisions that they are experimenting with the remaining molecules of the liquid in which they are suspended. However, despite the apparently random behavior, it is curious that the average trajectory of movement can be described by laws statistics and probability.
But how are they produced? Liquid molecules are in constant motion due to thermal energy (any particle that is not at zero temperature has energy due to heat and therefore experiences vibration), and when colliding with other suspended particles They transfer some of this energycausing random movement throughout the body.
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KINETIC THEORY AND BROWNIAN MOTION
According to physics, this phenomenon is protected Kinetic theory of gaseswhich states that gas molecules are in constant motion and move in a random and chaotic manner due to thermal energy, whichl always increases with temperaturecolliding with each other and with the walls of the container in which they are located.
A simulation of Brownian motion performed by a dust particle colliding with a large collection of smaller particles (gas molecules) that are moving at different speeds in random directions.
When gas molecules collide with each other or with walls, these interactions occur in elasticwhich means they don’t lose speed or energy during collisions: Molecules retain all the energy they have and they simply change direction and speed due to the impact. In the case of Brownian motion, this is exactly what happens: microscopic particles suspended in liquid They behave in exactly the same way as gas molecules, although on a much smaller scale.
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Thus, as in the kinetic theory of gases, collisions between suspended particles and liquid molecules (air, in the case of pollen or dust) elastictherefore energy is always conserved, allowing movements to be maintained continuously and don’t come down With time.
APPLICATION OF BROWNIAN MOTION
In addition to scientific and theoretical interest, Brownian motion has Practical use very important in fields such as medicine, physics, chemistry or nanotechnology. IN medicineFor example, the study of Brownian motion is essential for understanding how particles and cells move in biological fluids, which has led to advances in personalized therapy and precision delivery of drugs and treatments, especially in the oncology and infectious disease fields.
IN physicalThis phenomenon provides very valuable and detailed information about the properties and behavior of particles at the molecular level, which is fundamental for the study of new materials with specific properties. Moreover, in the field nanotechnologyControl and manipulation of Brownian motion at the nanoscale has opened up new possibilities in the production of nanotechnology devices and sensors.