SimuLab 15: The Diffusion Chamber Simulation

The Diffusion Chamber program carries out the diffusing checkers model with computer speed, many more "checkers,'' and a longer chamber. With this program you can change the model in various ways in order to compare the results with experiment.

Start the Diffusion Chamber program. You will see two diffusion chambers, one above the other. Later this arrangement will allow you to compare diffusion under different circumstances. For now just use the upper chamber. In the selections on the right, choose m(green) = m(blue) which means that the two diffusing molecules have the same mass, Infinite Particles which means particles are renewed from a source at each end of the chamber, and 1-D Random which means that the model is a one-dimensional random walk. Start the run with the upper chamber.



Q6.3: At what time (displayed at the lower right of the panel) are there a "significant number'' of precipitated dust particles? You define "significant.''





Q6.4: Is the precipitated dust grouped around the center of the tube or near some other location?





Now choose a topic from the list below and carry out a brief investigation using the Diffusion Chamber program. Different groups in the class may choose different topics.

For comparison, you can use both chambers in the display, if you wish, running them simultaneously. To increase the statistical accuracy of your results, you can increase the number of particles using the Size menu items (but then the process will take longer).

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