T=1500 K ), which is only 0.005% of the speed of light. The Maxwell speed and kinetic energy distributions are also based on the assumption that the molecules of the gas do not interact. If the gas molecules interact, then these distributions do not apply. For gas molecules moving in the Earth’s atmosphere’ the assumption of no interactions is justified, so many of the Earth’s atmosphere can be described using the Maxwell speed distribution and the Maxwell kinetic energy distribution.