I’m not really interested in responding to generalised statements such as Pekka makes assertively. If he, or anyone, can produce a believable alternative explanation based on physics for the observed temperature at the base of the Venus atmosphere then I’ll be all ears. So I challenge you.
Empirical evidence speaks volumes. In contrast, empty assertive statements like “Maxwell and Botzmann were right” are not science, and are like water off a duck’s back. I have the evidence on my side, and I think you would find that most, if not all of about 150 members of PSI would agree. Many are far better qualified than several commenters here I suspect, but qualifications are not what it’s all about. The proven laws of physics will always hold firm, and that’s what you’re up against. The laws of physics prove Maxwell and Boltzmann wrong on this issue.
Of course there’s a correlation between PE and KE. It is simply that, for an object in motion in a frictionless situation in a gravitational field, PE+KE=constant assuming no addition or loss of energy.
The temperature difference in the vertical cylinder would be about 0.02 C degree if it is about 3 metres high, for example. It is not a direct result of pressure difference, nor of any air movement such as convection. Even Wikipedia will explain to you (under “diffusion”) what the difference is.
No, simple consideration of the physics involved proves that the equilibrium is not isothermal (except in a horizontal plane) but it is such that the sum of PE+KE is constant. This happens because molecules in “free flight” between collisions experience an interchange of PE and KE, just like a stone you throw or a golf ball you drive.
Capt… refers to the specific heat quite correctly. At 275K the SH of CO2 is about 0.819 and that of an air mix of nitrogen and oxygen only is about 1.014, so carbon dioxide makes the gradient steeper, and thus the surface temperature higher – by about two thousandths of a degree. But other cooling effects, mostly absorbing incident insolation in the 2 micron band, totally eclipse this 0.002 degree warming effect. Double your CO2 and get 0.004 degree – wow!
