Kinetic theory of gases

Question 1

What is a gas?

Answer 1

A number of free moving particle (point masses of atoms/molecules) without a defined volume or shape

Question 2

What type of gas does the kinetic theory of gases describe?

Answer 2

An imaginary/ideal gas at the microscopic level.

real gases only occasionally meet the requirements.

Question 3

What are the components of the kinetic theory of gases?

Answer 3

1. Gas consists of a large number of particles, number of particles is negligee compared to the volume of the gas
2. Particles move in random directions at random speeds
3. Particles move in straight lines in between abrupt collisions, which are perfectly elastic and so do not alter the overall kinetic energy of the gas
4. There are no attractive/repulsive forces between particles

(Youtube)

Question 4

How do real gases deviate from the kinetic theory of gases?

Answer 4

Particles exhibit attractive forces and they usually occupy a small but finite volume

Question 5

Under what circumstances do real gases deviate more from the kinetic theory of gases?

Answer 5

They deviate more when the particles are close together e.g. when there is a low temperature of high pressure (therefore smaller volume)

Question 6

What is Brownian motion?

Answer 6

Fluids consist of fast moving particles which have a random motion due to collisions with surrounding molecules (e.g. in a gas)

(YouTube)

Question 7

What does the maxwell-Boltzmann distribution tell us?

Answer 7

The probability that any random particle will be moving at a given speed

Question 8

What type of distribution does a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution curve show?

Answer 8

Normal with a slight rightward skew

Question 9

What happens to a Maxwell-Boltzmann curve if we increase the temperature?

Answer 9

Rightward shift, with slight flattening

(YouTube)

Question 10

What does increasing the molecular weight of gas particles do to the Maxwell-Boltzmann curve?

Answer 10

Shift it to the left, making the peaks taller

Question 11

How do we describe the pressure exerted by a gas?

Answer 11

Is is the cumulative force generated by all the particles hitting the container divided by the total area that the force is applied (e.g. the total area of the container)