The diffusion coefficients and relaxation times of mixtures of alkanes
follow simple scaling laws based on the chain length of the constituents
and the mean chain length of the mixture. These scaling laws are used to
determine chain sizes in a mixture from the distribution of the diffusion
coefficients. These scaling laws can be used to determine the mean chain
lengths (or chain lengths) of a sample (alkanes or mixtures of alkanes)
and therefore the constituents of the sample.