Thursday, October 17, 2013

If the molecular mass of a gas increases by a factor of 4 at a constant temperature, what will its rms speed be?

Hello!
The absolute temperature (from the absolute zero) of a gas is directly proportional to the mean kinetic energy of its molecules. This energy is equal to (M v_(rms)^2)/2, where M is the molar mass of a gas (the mass of a mole of a gas). The molar mass is directly proportional to the molecule's mass, because each mole of a substance contains the same number of molecules.
The exact equation is  v_(rms) = sqrt((3 R T)/M), where R is the ideal gas constant which doesn't depend on gas properties.
Therefore if the molecule's mass increases by a factor of 4, then the root-mean-square will decrease by the factor of sqrt(4) = 2.
That said, the only cause of such a change of a mass is a chemical reaction, but in that case the temperature will likely be changed too.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Summarize the major research findings of "Toward an experimental ecology of human development."

Based on findings of prior research, the author, Bronfenbrenner proposes that methods for natural observation research have been applied in ...