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Air is made up mostly of N2 (MW = 28) and O2 (MW = 32). If these molecules share a container at the same temperature and pressure, which ones will generally be moving faster? Explain.

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Step 1

The Root Mean Square Velocity

The root mean squared velocity of a molecule of a gas is defined as the square root of the average velocity square of every molecule.

If u1, u2, u3, ..., un be the velocity of n molecules then the rms velocity is given as

C=u12+u22+u32+....+un2n

The pressure exerted by the random movement of molecules of a gas whose density is ρ is

p=13ρC2

Let us consider that one mole of a gas occupies V volume, therefore for one mole the pressure exerted by the gas is

p=13ρC2=13MVC2

M the molecular weight of the gas. We get

pV=13MC2

Then by ideal gas law equation for one mole

pV=13MC2=RTC=3RTM

R the universal gas constant and T is the temperature of the gas.

Step 2

Let us consider the temperature of the container be T and one mole each of N2 and O2 occupies the container. 

Given, the molecular weight of N2=MN=28 and

  the molecular weight of O2=MO=32

Therefore rms velocity of N2

CN=3RTMN=3RT28

and rms velocity of O2

CO=3RTMO=3RT32

Taking the ratio

CNCO=3RT283RT32=3228=1.07

This gives

CN=1.07CO

This shows that rms velocity of nitrogen is greater and 1.07 times that of oxygen.

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