1.1.2

Kinetic Molecular Theory

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Molecular Velocities and Kinetic Energy

In a gas sample, individual molecules have widely varying speeds. However, because of the vast number of molecules and collisions involved, the molecular speed distribution and average speed are constant.

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Root mean squared

  • The kinetic energy of a particle of mass mm and speed uu is given by:
    • KE=12mv2KE = \frac{1}{2}mv^2
  • To deal with a large number of gas molecules, we use averages for both speed and kinetic energy
  • The root mean square velocity of a particle, vrmsv_{rms}, is defined as the square root of the average of the squares of the velocities:
    • vrms=v12+v22+v32+...nv_{rms} = \sqrt{\frac{v{_1}^2+v{_2}^2+v{_3}^2+...}{n}}
  • Where nn is the number of particles.
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Average kinetic energy

  • The average kinetic energy for a mole of particles, KEavgKE_{avg}, is then equal to:
    • KEavg=32RTKE_{avg} = \frac{3}{2}RT
  • Where RR is the gas constant and TT is the kelvin temperature.
  • When used in this equation, the appropriate form of the gas constant is 8.314 J/mol⋅K.
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Average speed

  • Combining these equations we can write:
    • 12Murms2=32RT \frac{1}{2}M{u_{rms}}^2 = \frac{3}{2}RT
    • urms=3RTMu_{rms} = \sqrt{\frac{3RT}{M}}
  • For urmsu_{rms}, M is measured in kg/mol rather than g/mol.
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Temperature dependence

  • If the temperature of a gas increases, KEavgKE_{avg} increases.
    • More molecules have higher speeds and fewer molecules have lower speeds, and the distribution shifts to the right.
  • If temperature decreases, KEavgKE_{avg} decreases.
    • More molecules have lower speeds and fewer molecules have higher speeds, so the distribution shifts to the left.
  • This behavior is shown here for nitrogen gas.
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Jump to other topics

1Structure - Models of the Particulate of Matter

2Structure - Models of Bonding & Structure

3Structure - Classification of Matter

3.1The Periodic Table: Classification of Elements

3.2Periodic Trends

3.3Group 1 Alkali Metals

3.4Halogens

3.5Noble gases, group 18

3.6Functional Groups: Classification of Organic

3.7Functional Group Chemistry

3.8Alkanes

3.9Alcohols

3.10Halogenoalkanes

4Reactivity - What Drives Chemical Reaction?

5Reactivity - How Much, How Fast & How Far?

6Reactivity - The Mechanisms of Chemical Change

7Measurement, Data Processing & Analysis

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