Since air has particles constantly colliding with each other, why can't we feel the collisions? Why don't the collisions in the air make regular stationary objects move around too?
Is it because they are not high energy? Does it have something to do with elastic/inelastic collisions?
2007-02-22 05:25:32 · 2 answers · asked by antheia 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Individual air molecules are too small for our nerves to sense. And you have to consider that the air particles are colliding with stationary objects at an equal rate on all sides (constant air pressure on all sides). So with equal air pressure on all sides, a stationary object will not move.
However, if you think of wind, you can feel that. But it's not individual particles that you're feeling, it's millions of particles all at once. And wind does move stationary objects. So yes, we can feel the collisions if there are enough so that the pressure is sufficient enough for our nerves to sense them. And yes, objects will move if the collisions are in one direction. But the force of the collisions in one direction have to be greater than the friction between the object and the surface it is sitting on before it will move.
2007-02-22 05:34:28 · answer #1 · answered by Enceladus 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We do feel the collisions ! That's what causes air pressure and the pressure of the wind but we only feel the average of all the collisions. There are probably a few billion per second that we feel but they get averaged out to what we call pressure. Things don't move because the pressure is equal in all directions.
2007-02-22 13:30:53 · answer #2 · answered by Gene 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋