Do gas molecules align with gravity?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the alignment of gas molecules, specifically atmospheric water vapor, with gravitational forces. It concludes that the molecular centers of gravity do not significantly align toward Earth's center, as the energy penalty for a water molecule being "upside down" is approximately 10^-35 J. This value is negligible when compared to the average rotational energy of a water molecule, which is also around 10^-35 J at a temperature of 10^-12 K. Therefore, gravity has minimal influence on the orientation of gas molecules.

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Loren Booda
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In a gas, do the molecular centers of gravity align significantly toward the dominant source of gravity? E. g., do atmospheric water vapor molecules tend to have their oxygen atoms facing Earth's center?
 
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It's interesting to consider the energy penalty of a water molecule being "upside down"; that is, with the oxygen atom on top. When I multiply the mass of an oxygen molecule by the force of gravity by the difference in height between the two configurations, I get about 10-35 J. I'll leave it to you to compare that with the average rotational energy of a water molecule to determine if gravity has any considerable influence on orientation.
 
My initial guess is that such a molecule would have the average rotational energy of kT/2=10-35 J. So T=10-12 K, about the current limit of cryogenic technology. The influence is negligible.
 

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