and 
usually taken in the limit as 
tends to zero. [P7.5]
is: a distribution function which describes the number of molecules in a gas that possess a speed in a small interval between and usually taken in the limit as tends to zero. [P7.5]
is given: by
where 
is Boltzmann's constant, 
is the mass of a molecule, 
is the total number of molecules in the gas and 
is the absolute temperature of the gas. [P7.5]
Copyright 1997, The Open University