Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 11, 2025

Measurement of Particle Size Distribution in Turbid Solutions by Dynamic Light Scattering Microscopy

Measurement of Particle Size Distribution in Turbid Solutions by Dynamic Light Scattering Microscopy

Published on: January 9, 2017

Measuring many-body distribution functions in fluids using test-particle insertion.

Adam Edward Stones¹, Dirk G A L Aarts¹

¹Department of Chemistry, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QZ, United Kingdom.

The Journal of Chemical Physics

|November 17, 2023

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

Distribution of Molecular Speeds

Distribution of Molecular Speeds

The motion of molecules in a gas is random in magnitude and direction for individual molecules, but a gas of many molecules has a predictable distribution of molecular speeds. This predictable distribution of molecular speeds is known as the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. The distribution of molecular speeds in liquids is comparable to that of gases but not identical and can help to understand the phenomenon of the boiling and vapor pressure of a liquid. Consider that a molecule requires a...

Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution: Problem Solving

Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution: Problem Solving

Individual molecules in a gas move in random directions, but a gas containing numerous molecules has a predictable distribution of molecular speeds, which is known as the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, f(v).
This distribution function f(v) is defined by saying that the expected number N (v1,v2) of particles with speeds between v1 and v2 is given by

Extraction: Partition and Distribution Coefficients

Extraction: Partition and Distribution Coefficients

The distribution law or Nernst's distribution law is the law that governs the distribution of a solute between two immiscible solvents. This law, also known as the partition law, states that if a solute is added to the mixture of two immiscible solvents at a constant temperature, the solute is distributed between the two solvents in such a way that the ratio of solute concentrations in the solvents remains constant at equilibrium.
For extracting a solute from an aqueous phase into an...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Effective interactions in active Brownian particles.

Soft matter·2026

Same author

Intrinsic hydrophobicity of IDP-based biomolecular condensates drives their partial drying on membrane surfaces.

The Journal of chemical physics·2025

Same author

Numerical methods for unraveling inter-particle potentials in colloidal suspensions: A comparative study for two-dimensional suspensions.

The Journal of chemical physics·2025

Same author

Surface tension measurement and calculation of model biomolecular condensates.

Soft matter·2023

Same author

Geometrically frustrated interactions drive structural complexity in amorphous calcium carbonate.

Nature chemistry·2023

Same journal

Metastable excited states of iodide-alkyl halide cluster anions: Insights from photodetachment spectroscopy and non-Hermitian quantum chemistry.

The Journal of chemical physics·2026

Same journal

Pressure-induced thermal expansion anomalies in dhcp iron hydride associated with magnetoelastic coupling.

The Journal of chemical physics·2026

Same journal

Seniority eigenstate configuration interaction.

The Journal of chemical physics·2026

Same journal

A data-driven modeling study on the accurate identification of Doppler-free saturated absorption spectra in diatomic tellurium (130Te2).

The Journal of chemical physics·2026

Same journal

Anharmonic phonons via quantum thermal bath simulations.

The Journal of chemical physics·2026

Same journal

Quantum simulation of alignment dependent differential cross sections in co-propagating molecular beams at cold collision energies.

The Journal of chemical physics·2026

See all related articles

A new test-particle insertion method accurately measures n-body distribution functions in fluids. This approach offers better structural resolution and normalization than traditional methods, especially for inhomogeneous systems.

Area of Science:

Statistical Mechanics
Computational Physics
Soft Matter Physics

Background:

Accurate characterization of multi-particle interactions is crucial in statistical mechanics.
Traditional methods like distance-histogram analysis have limitations in resolution and normalization, especially at high densities.
Understanding fluid structure is key to developing theoretical models and predicting material properties.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and validate a novel hierarchy of equations for measuring n-body distribution functions.
To compare the efficacy of the test-particle insertion method against conventional techniques.
To highlight the advantages of the insertion method for analyzing fluid structures, particularly in complex or inhomogeneous systems.

Main Methods:

More Related Videos

Liquid-cell Transmission Electron Microscopy for Tracking Self-assembly of Nanoparticles

Liquid-cell Transmission Electron Microscopy for Tracking Self-assembly of Nanoparticles

Published on: October 16, 2017

Controlled Synthesis and Fluorescence Tracking of Highly Uniform PolyN-isopropylacrylamide Microgels

Controlled Synthesis and Fluorescence Tracking of Highly Uniform PolyN-isopropylacrylamide Microgels

Published on: September 8, 2016

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 11, 2025

Measurement of Particle Size Distribution in Turbid Solutions by Dynamic Light Scattering Microscopy

Measurement of Particle Size Distribution in Turbid Solutions by Dynamic Light Scattering Microscopy

Published on: January 9, 2017

Liquid-cell Transmission Electron Microscopy for Tracking Self-assembly of Nanoparticles

Liquid-cell Transmission Electron Microscopy for Tracking Self-assembly of Nanoparticles

Published on: October 16, 2017

Controlled Synthesis and Fluorescence Tracking of Highly Uniform PolyN-isopropylacrylamide Microgels

Controlled Synthesis and Fluorescence Tracking of Highly Uniform PolyN-isopropylacrylamide Microgels

Published on: September 8, 2016

Derivation of a hierarchy of equations for general n-body distribution functions.

Application of the method to measure pair and three-body distribution functions using Monte Carlo simulations.

Comparison of results with the conventional distance-histogram method.

Main Results:

The test-particle insertion method successfully measures n-body distribution functions.
The insertion method provides enhanced structural resolution and simpler normalization compared to the histogram method.
Limitations at high particle densities were observed but can be mitigated by leveraging the method's hierarchical nature.

Conclusions:

The test-particle insertion method is a powerful tool for characterizing fluid structure.
This technique offers significant advantages over traditional methods, particularly for inhomogeneous fluids.
The approach is valuable for validating closure approximations in liquid state theory.