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What is the average kinetic energy of a nitrogen molecule (N 2 ) if its rms speed is 560 m/s? At what temperature is this rms speed achieved?

(a) 7.29 × 10 -21 J; (b) 352K or 79ºC

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What will be the ratio of kinetic energies and rms speeds of a nitrogen molecule and a helium atom at the same temperature?

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Section summary

  • Kinetic theory is the atomistic description of gases as well as liquids and solids.
  • Kinetic theory models the properties of matter in terms of continuous random motion of atoms and molecules.
  • The ideal gas law can also be expressed as
    PV = 1 3 Nm v 2 ¯ , size 12{ ital "PV"= { {1} over {3} } ital "Nm" {overline {v rSup { size 8{2} } }} ,} {}
    where P size 12{P} {} is the pressure (average force per unit area), V size 12{V} {} is the volume of gas in the container, N size 12{N} {} is the number of molecules in the container, m size 12{m} {} is the mass of a molecule, and v 2 ¯ size 12{ {overline {v rSup { size 8{2} } }} } {} is the average of the molecular speed squared.
  • Thermal energy is defined to be the average translational kinetic energy KE ¯ size 12{ {overline {"KE"}} } {} of an atom or molecule.
  • The temperature of gases is proportional to the average translational kinetic energy of atoms and molecules.
    KE ¯ = 1 2 m v 2 ¯ = 3 2 kT size 12{ {overline {"KE"}} = { {1} over {2} } m {overline {v rSup { size 8{2} } }} = { {3} over {2} } ital "kT"} {}

    or

    v 2 ¯ = v rms = 3 kT m . size 12{ sqrt { {overline {v rSup { size 8{2} } }} } =v rSub { size 8{"rms"} } = sqrt { { {3 ital "kT"} over {m} } } "." } {}
  • The motion of individual molecules in a gas is random in magnitude and direction. However, a gas of many molecules has a predictable distribution of molecular speeds, known as the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution .

Conceptual questions

How is momentum related to the pressure exerted by a gas? Explain on the atomic and molecular level, considering the behavior of atoms and molecules.

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Problems&Exercises

Some incandescent light bulbs are filled with argon gas. What is v rms size 12{v rSub { size 8{"rms"} } } {} for argon atoms near the filament, assuming their temperature is 2500 K?

1 . 25 × 10 3 m/s size 12{ size 11{1 "." "25" times "10" rSup { size 8{3} } `"m/s"}} {}

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Average atomic and molecular speeds ( v rms ) size 12{ \( v rSub { size 8{"rms"} } \) } {} are large, even at low temperatures. What is v rms size 12{v rSub { size 8{"rms"} } } {} for helium atoms at 5.00 K, just one degree above helium’s liquefaction temperature?

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(a) What is the average kinetic energy in joules of hydrogen atoms on the 5500 º C size 12{"5500"°C} {} surface of the Sun? (b) What is the average kinetic energy of helium atoms in a region of the solar corona where the temperature is 6 . 00 × 10 5 K size 12{6 "." "00"´"10" rSup { size 8{5} } " K"} {} ?

(a) 1 . 20 × 10 19 J size 12{ size 11{1 "." "20" times "10" rSup { size 8{ - "19"} } `J}} {}

(b) 1 . 24 × 10 17 J size 12{ size 11{1 "." "24" times "10" rSup { size 8{ - "17"} } `J}} {}

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The escape velocity of any object from Earth is 11.2 km/s. (a) Express this speed in m/s and km/h. (b) At what temperature would oxygen molecules (molecular mass is equal to 32.0 g/mol) have an average velocity v rms size 12{v rSub { size 8{"rms"} } } {} equal to Earth’s escape velocity of 11.1 km/s?

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The escape velocity from the Moon is much smaller than from Earth and is only 2.38 km/s. At what temperature would hydrogen molecules (molecular mass is equal to 2.016 g/mol) have an average velocity v rms size 12{v rSub { size 8{"rms"} } } {} equal to the Moon’s escape velocity?

458 K size 12{ size 11{"458"`K}} {}

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Nuclear fusion, the energy source of the Sun, hydrogen bombs, and fusion reactors, occurs much more readily when the average kinetic energy of the atoms is high—that is, at high temperatures. Suppose you want the atoms in your fusion experiment to have average kinetic energies of 6 . 40 × 10 14 J size 12{6 "." "40"´"10" rSup { size 8{ +- "14"} } " J"} {} . What temperature is needed?

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Suppose that the average velocity ( v rms ) size 12{ \( v rSub { size 8{"rms"} } \) } {} of carbon dioxide molecules (molecular mass is equal to 44.0 g/mol) in a flame is found to be 1 . 05 × 10 5 m/s size 12{1 "." "05"´"10" rSup { size 8{5} } " m/s"} {} . What temperature does this represent?

1 . 95 × 10 7 K size 12{ size 11{1 "." "95" times "10" rSup { size 8{7} } `K}} {}

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Hydrogen molecules (molecular mass is equal to 2.016 g/mol) have an average velocity v rms size 12{v rSub { size 8{"rms"} } } {} equal to 193 m/s. What is the temperature?

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Much of the gas near the Sun is atomic hydrogen. Its temperature would have to be 1 . 5 × 10 7 K size 12{1 "." 5´"10" rSup { size 8{7} } " K"} {} for the average velocity v rms size 12{v rSub { size 8{"rms"} } } {} to equal the escape velocity from the Sun. What is that velocity?

6 . 09 × 10 5 m/s size 12{ size 11{6 "." "09" times "10" rSup { size 8{5} } `"m/s"}} {}

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There are two important isotopes of uranium— 235 U size 12{ {} rSup { size 8{"235"} } U} {} and 238 U size 12{ {} rSup { size 8{"238"} } U} {} ; these isotopes are nearly identical chemically but have different atomic masses. Only 235 U size 12{ {} rSup { size 8{"235"} } U} {} is very useful in nuclear reactors. One of the techniques for separating them (gas diffusion) is based on the different average velocities v rms size 12{v rSub { size 8{"rms"} } } {} of uranium hexafluoride gas, UF 6 size 12{"UF" rSub { size 8{6} } } {} . (a) The molecular masses for 235 U size 12{ {} rSup { size 8{"235"} } U} {} UF 6 size 12{"UF" rSub { size 8{6} } } {} and 238 U size 12{ {} rSup { size 8{"238"} } U} {} UF 6 size 12{"UF" rSub { size 8{6} } } {} are 349.0 g/mol and 352.0 g/mol, respectively. What is the ratio of their average velocities? (b) At what temperature would their average velocities differ by 1.00 m/s? (c) Do your answers in this problem imply that this technique may be difficult?

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Source:  OpenStax, College physics for ap® courses. OpenStax CNX. Nov 04, 2016 Download for free at https://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11844/1.14
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