Dust Particles: RMS Speed Calculation (3*10^13 mm/s)

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SUMMARY

The forum discussion centers on calculating the root-mean-square (RMS) speed of dust particles, specifically spheres with a diameter of 5 µm and a density of 2000 kg/m³. The initial calculation yielded an incorrect result of 3*10^13 mm/s due to the omission of the temperature variable, T, which was specified as 290K in a previous problem. The correct RMS speed, after incorporating the temperature, is determined to be 0.3 mm/s. This highlights the importance of including all variables in calculations involving the RMS speed formula.

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doggieslover
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calculate the rms (root-mean-square) speed v_rms of these particles, assuming them to be spheres of diameter 5 \; \mu {\rm m} and density 2 \; {\rm g}/{\rm cm}^3 = 2000 \; {\rm kg}/{\rm m^3}. The mass of such a dust particle is 1.31 \times 10^{-13} \; \rm kg.
Express your answer in millimeters per second to one decimal place only.

So I found out from the previous problem that the equation to use is:

v_rms =\sqrt{\left(\frac{\left(3k_{B}T\right)}{\left({\rho}\left(\frac{4}{3}\right){\pi}\left(\frac{d}{2}\right)^{3}\right)}\right)}


And after I plugged everything into the equation, I got 3*10^13 mm/s as the answer.

I am pretty sure that I converted everything to the right units, I double checked my work a few times already, I don't know what I 've done wrong.

Please help?
 
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Hi doggieslover! :smile:

Since nobody's replied in over 36 hours, maybe they can't read it … so here's a translation :rolleyes:
doggieslover said:
calculate the rms (root-mean-square) speed vrms of these particles, assuming them to be spheres of diameter 5µm and density 2g/cm3 = 2000kg/m3. The mass of such a dust particle is 1.31 10-13 kg.
Express your answer in millimeters per second to one decimal place only.

So I found out from the previous problem that the equation to use is:

v_{rms} \ =\ \sqrt{\left(\frac{\left(3k_{B}T\right)}{\left({\rho}\left(\frac{4}{3}\right){\pi}\left(\frac{d}{2}\right)^{3}\right)}\right)}And after I plugged everything into the equation, I got 3*10^13 mm/s as the answer.

I am pretty sure that I converted everything to the right units, I double checked my work a few times already, I don't know what I 've done wrong.

Please help?
 
What did you use for T, and why? Do you understand the meaning of this formula?
 
T = 290K, it was given in a previous problem, I forgot to incorporate it in here.

I solved it already, the answer is .3mm/s, I probably just converted something wrong.
 

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