Macroscopically measurable force induced by temperature discontinuities at solid-gas interfaces

Abstract

We consider a freely movable solid that separates a long tube into two regions, each of which is filled with a dilute gas. The gases in each region are initially prepared at the same pressure but different temperatures. Under the assumption that the pressure and temperatures of gas particles before colliding with the solid are kept constant over time, we show that temperature gaps appearing on the solid surface generate a force. We provide a quantitative estimation of the force, which turns out to be large enough to be observed by a macroscopic measurement.