Rotational Brownian motion (astronomy)
Rotational Brownian motion is something that happens to really, really tiny things called particles that are floating around in space. These particles are so small that you can’t even see them with your eyes or a microscope!
Now, because these teeny, tiny particles are floating around in space, they can get knocked around by other things that are also floating around in space, like gas or dust. When this happens, the particles start to move in all sorts of different directions, just like how a ball bounces around when you throw it.
But, because of something called “friction,” the particles don’t just keep moving in one straight line forever. Instead, they start to wiggle around and spin in all sorts of different directions, kind of like how a toy top spins when you flick it really fast.
This wiggling and spinning is called “rotational Brownian motion,” which is a fancy way of saying that these tiny particles are moving in a really random, unpredictable way. And scientists study this motion to learn more about how particles behave in space and how they affect the things around them.
Now, because these teeny, tiny particles are floating around in space, they can get knocked around by other things that are also floating around in space, like gas or dust. When this happens, the particles start to move in all sorts of different directions, just like how a ball bounces around when you throw it.
But, because of something called “friction,” the particles don’t just keep moving in one straight line forever. Instead, they start to wiggle around and spin in all sorts of different directions, kind of like how a toy top spins when you flick it really fast.
This wiggling and spinning is called “rotational Brownian motion,” which is a fancy way of saying that these tiny particles are moving in a really random, unpredictable way. And scientists study this motion to learn more about how particles behave in space and how they affect the things around them.