In physics, the kinetic theory or kinetic theory of gases is a statistical model which links the temperature of a gas to the velocity of its particles. In this kinetic theory, the particles, atoms or molecules, are considered to be spherical, to have non-correlation of velocities, and to have perfectly elastic collisions. [1] The principle founder of the kinetic theory of gases, according to Scottish physicist James Maxwell, is German physicist Rudolf Clausius. [6] Maxwell referred to the theory, which explained the properties of gases, as the "theory of the collisions of molecules". [6]

History
In 1738, Swiss physicist and mathematician Daniel Bernoulli published Hydrodynamica, which laid the basis for the kinetic theory of gases. This publication, in which Bernoulli’s gave an explanation of Boyle’s law, is said to have marked the initiation of the kinetic theory of gases. [7]

In this work, Bernoulli positioned the argument, still used to this day, that gases consist of great numbers of molecules moving in all directions, that their impact on a surface causes the gas pressure that we feel, and that what we experience as heat is simply the kinetic energy of their motion. [2] He also states that: Bernoulli states that: [8]

“the weight P [weight of the mass + atmospheric pressure] will vary as the square of the particle velocity (v²).”

In 1856, German chemist and physicist August Krönig published his "A General Theory of Gases", which outlined a simple gas-kinetic model that considered the translational motion of the particles. [3] In 1857, German physicist Rudolf Clausius, according to his own words independently of Krönig, developed a similar, but much more sophisticated version of the theory which included translational and contrary to Krönig also rotational and vibrational molecular motions. In this same work he introduced the concept of mean free path of a particle. [4]

In 1859, after reading Clausius' paper, Scottish physicist James Maxwell formulated what is known as the "Maxwell distribution" of molecular velocities, which gave the proportion of molecules having a certain velocity in a specific range. [5]

Referrences
1. Perrot, Pierre. (1998). A to Z of Thermodynamics, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2. Laidler, Keith. (1993). The World of Physical Chemistry, (142-60). New York: Oxford University Press.
3. Krönig, A. (1856), "Grundzüge einer Theorie der Gase" (A General Theory of Gases), Annalen der Physik 99: 315-322.
4. Clausius, R. (1857), "Über die Art der Bewegung, die wir Wärme nennen" (About the Nature of the Movement, Which we call Heat), Annalen der Physik 100: 353-379.
5. Mahon, Basil (2003). The Man Who Changed Everything – the Life of James Clerk Maxwell. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
6. (a) Maxwell, James C. (1878). “Tait’s ‘Thermodynamics’ (I)”, (pgs. 257-59). Nature, Jan. 31.
(b) Maxwell, James C. (1878). “Tait’s ‘Thermodynamics’ (II)”, (pgs. 278-81). Nature, Feb. 07.
7. Wilson, William. (1950). A Hundred Years of Physics (pg. 62). Read Books.
8. (a) Bernoulli, Daniel. (1738). “On the Properties and Motions of Elastic Fluids, Especially Air” (Hydrodynamica, Section 10) in: The Kinetic Theory of Gases of Gases (pgs. 57-65), 2003, by Stephen G. Brush, Nancy S. Hall. Imperial College Press.
(b) Bernoulli, Daniel. (1738). Hydrodynamica, Sive Vivibus et Motimus Fluidorum Commentarii. Sectio Decima: “De affectionibus atque botimus fluidorum elasticorum, praecipue autem aeris.” (pgs. 200-204). Argentorati, Sumptibus Johannes Reinholdi Dulseckeri.