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Encyclopedia of Microfluidics and Nanofluidics pp 1–6Cite as

Brownian Motion in Microfluidics and Nanofluidics

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Synonyms

Brownian diffusion

Definition

The temperature of a fluid is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the fluid molecules. Thus, all fluids above absolute zero consist of molecules that constantly collide with each other and with any other object suspended in the fluid. Even at thermodynamic equilibrium in the fluid (zero average heat flow), these collisions impart a random motion to every particle in the fluid that is termed as Brownian motion – named after Robert Brown who first observed such motion in pollen grains suspended in a fluid.

Overview

Albert Einstein was the first [1] to describe the cause of this motion in a comprehensive way that related the prevalent kinetic theory viewpoint with the random-walk theory-based description that was coming into vogue at the time. Quantifying the extent of Brownian motion provided an early proof of the existence of molecules and was also recognized as a way to model a variety of applications – for example, in stock markets and...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Pramod Mathai

Authors
  1. Pramod Mathai
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Correspondence to Pramod Mathai .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. VU Station B 351592, Vanderbilt University Dept. Mechanical Engineering, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

    Dongqing Li

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Mathai, P. (2014). Brownian Motion in Microfluidics and Nanofluidics. In: Li, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Microfluidics and Nanofluidics. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27758-0_129-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27758-0_129-4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27758-0

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