Kinetic Theory of Gases

CSE First Semester (Session: 2020-2021) Kinetic Theory of Gases
Kinetic Theory of Gases

By
Dr. Khokon Hossen

Professor, Department of Physics and Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Computer Science and
Engineering, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Dumki, Patuakhali-8602, Bangladesh.
E-mail: khokon.pme@gmail.com
Cell: +8801791151601
One of the main subjects in thermodynamics is the physics of gases.A gas consists of atoms (either
individually or bound together as molecules) that fill their container’s volume and exert pressure on the
container’s walls. We can usually assign a temperature to such a contained gas. These three variables
associated with a gas—volume, pressure, and temperature—are all a consequence of the motion of the
atoms. The volume is a result of the freedom the atoms have to spread throughout the container, the
pressure is a result of the collisions of the atoms with the container’s walls, and the temperature has to do
with the kinetic Energy of the atoms. The kinetic theory of gases, the focus of this chapter, relates the
motion of the atoms to the volume, pressure, and temperature of the gas. Applications of the kinetic
theory of gases are countless. Automobile engineers are concerned with the combustion of vaporized fuel
(a gas) in the automobile engines. Food engineers are concerned with the production rate of the
fermentation gas that causes bread to rise as it bakes. Beverage engineers are concerned with how gas can
produce the head in a glass of beer or shoot a cork from a champagne bottle. Medical engineers and
physiologists are concerned with calculating how long a scuba diver must pause during ascent to
eliminate nitrogen gas from the bloodstream (to avoid the bends). Environmental scientists are concerned
with how heat exchanges between the oceans and the atmosphere can affect weather conditions.
Ideal Gas Law

An ideal gas is defined as one in which all collisions between atoms or molecules are perfectly elastic and
in which there are no intermolecular attractive forces. One can visualize it as a collection of perfectly hard
spheres which collide but which otherwise do not interact with each other. In such a gas, all the internal
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energy is in the form of kinetic energy and any change in internal energy is accompanied by a change
in temperature.
An ideal gas can be characterized by three state variables: absolute pressure (P), volume (V), and absolute
temperature (T). The relationship between them may be deduced from kinetic theory and is called the
ideal gas law.
n = number of moles
R = universal gas constant = 8.3145 J/mol K
N = number of molecules
k = Boltzmann constant = 1.38066 x 10-23 J/K = 8.617385 x 10-5 eV/K
k = R/NA
NA = Avogadro's number = 6.0221 x 1023 /mol
The ideal gas law can be viewed as arising from the kinetic pressure of gas molecules colliding with the
walls of a container in accordance with Newton's laws. But there is also a statistical element in the
determination of the average kinetic energy of those molecules. The temperature is taken to be
proportional to this average kinetic energy; this invokes the idea of kinetic temperature. One mole of an
ideal gas at STP occupies 22.4 liters.
Ideal Gas Law with Constraints

For the purpose of calculations, it is convenient to place the ideal gas law in the form:
where the subscripts i and f refer to the initial and final states of some process. If the temperature is
constrained to be constant, this becomes:
2
which is referred to as Boyle's Law.
If the pressure is constant, then the ideal gas law takes the form
which has been historically called Charles' Law. It is appropriate for experiments performed in the
presence of a constant atmospheric pressure.
All the possible states of an ideal gas can be represented by a PvT surface as illustrated below. The
behavior when any one of the three state variables is held constant is also shown.
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Problem 1:
A cylinder contains 12 L of oxygen at 20°C and 15 atm. The temperature is raised to 35°C, and the
volume is reduced to 8.5 L. What is the final pressure of the gas in atmospheres? Assume that the
gas is ideal.
Problem 2:
How many moles of H2 is in a 3.1 L sample of H2 measured at 300 kPa and 20°C?
Problem 3:
How many grams of O2 are in a 315 mL container that has a pressure of 12 atm at 25°C?
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Kinetic Theory
The kinetic theory of gases describes a gas as a large number of submicroscopic particles (atoms or
molecules), all of which are in constant, rapid, random motion. The randomness arises from the particles'
many collisions with each other and with the walls of the container.
Kinetic theory of gases explains the macroscopic properties of gases, such as pressure, temperature,
viscosity, thermal conductivity, and volume, by considering their molecular composition and motion. The
theory posits that gas pressure results from particles' collisions with the walls of a container at different
velocities.
Kinetic molecular theory defines temperature in its own way, in contrast with the thermodynamic
definition.
Under an optical microscope, the molecules making up a liquid are too small to be visible. However, the
jittery motion of pollen grains or dust particles in liquid are visible. Known as Brownian motion, the
motion of the pollen or dust results from their collisions with the liquid's molecules.
The kinetic theory of gases is the study of the microscopic behavior of molecules and the interactions
which lead to macroscopic relationships like the ideal gas law.
The theory for ideal gases makes the following assumptions:
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The study of the molecules of a gas is a good example of a physical situation where statistical methods
give precise and dependable results for macroscopic manifestations of microscopic phenomena. For
example, the pressure, volume and temperature calculations from the ideal gas law are very precise. The
average energy associated with the molecular motion has its foundation in the Boltzmann distribution, a
statistical distribution function. Yet the temperature and energy of a gas can be measured precisely.
Applications of Kinetic Theory in various fields of Physics:
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Newton's Laws and Collisions
Applying Newton's Laws to an ideal gas under the assumptions of kinetic theory allows the determination
of the average force on container walls. This treatment assumes that the collisions with the walls are
perfectly elastic.
In this development, an overbar indicates an average quantity. In the expression for the average force
from N molecules, it is important to note that it is the average of the square of the velocity which is used,
and that this is distinctly different from the square of the average velocity.
Gas Pressure from Kinetic Theory
Under the assumptions of kinetic theory, the average force on container walls has been determined to be
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and assuming random speeds in all directions
Then the pressure in a container can be

expressed as
The average force and pressure on a given wall depends
only upon the components of velocity toward that wall.
But it can be expressed in terms of the average of the
entire translational kinetic energy using the assumption
that the molecular motion is random.
Expressed in terms of average molecular kinetic energy:
This leads to a concept of kinetic temperature and to the ideal gas law.
Kinetic Temperature
The expression for gas pressure developed from kinetic theory relates pressure and volume to the average
molecular kinetic energy. Comparison with the ideal gas law leads to an expression
for temperature sometimes referred to as the kinetic temperature.
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This leads to the expression
It is important to note that the average kinetic energy used here is limited to the translational kinetic
energy of the molecules. That is, they are treated as point masses and no account is made of internal
degrees of freedom such as molecular rotation and vibration. This distinction becomes quite important
when you deal with subjects like the specific heats of gases. When you try to assess specific heat, you
must account for all the energy possessed by the molecules, and the temperature as ordinarily measured
does not account for molecular rotation and vibration. The kinetic temperature is the variable needed for
subjects like heat transfer, because it is the translational kinetic energy which leads to energy transfer
from a hot area (larger kinetic temperature, higher molecular speeds) to a cold area (lower molecular
speeds) in direct collisional transfer.
Molecular Speeds
From the expression for kinetic temperature
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substitution gives the root mean square (rms) molecular velocity:
From the Maxwell speed distribution this speed as well as the average and most probable speeds can be
calculated.
The average speed:
The most probable speeds:
Problem 4:
The molar mass M of oxygen is 0.0320 kg/mol. (a) What is the average speed v avg of oxygen gas
molecules at T = 300 K? (b) What is the root-mean-square speed vrms at 300 K? (c) What is the
most probable speed vP at 300 K?
(a)
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(b)
(c)
Problem 5:
Calculate the average kinetic energy of a molecule of a gas at a temperature of 300 K.
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Problem 6:
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Problem 7:
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Problem 8:
Calculate the total random kinetic energy of one gram of Nitrogen at 300 K.
Degrees of Freedom
The degrees of freedom are the number of coordinates that are necessary to specify the position of a
particle in space. For spherical model, it has three degrees of freedom, that will be the case of mono
atomic molecule e.g. He atom. For a molecule that consists of N` atom. For an example, (O2 N`=2) or
(CO2 N`=3), three coordinates are necessary to specify the position of each atom, there for this molecules
will possess a total of 3N` degrees of freedom.
Since each atom in the molecule is not free to move independently from the other (the molecule translate
as a hole), so one can describe the translational of a hole molecule in term of 3 coordinate of the center of
Mass. The center of mass is the point in molecule where all the mass is considered to be centered.
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The remaining 3N`-3 degrees of freedom must corresponds to other modes of motion with diatomic and
polyatomic molecules. This motion is called internal modes of motion and consists of rotational and
vibrational motion. For diatomic molecule if considering that the 2 atoms are connected by a rigid rod
(this is called the dumbbell model), can be rotated about its center of mass in two perpendicular directions
and therefore it has 2 rotational degrees of freedom.
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As the same a linear polyatomic molecule CO2 will possess 2 rotational degrees of freedom. For nonlinear
polyatomic molecule SO2, can rotate about 3 perpendicular axis, So it has 3 rotational degrees of
freedom.
The remaining (3N`-5) for linear and (3N`-6) for nonlinear molecules must be due to another form of
motion called the vibrational motion. This vibrational motion results in stretching and compressing of the
Bond.
From this motion the molecule will possess two vibrational energies called (Vibrational K. E. &
Vibrational P. E.)
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Mathematical form for Kinetic Energy (K. E.)
Equipartition of Energy
The equipartition theorem states that energy is shared equally amongst all energetically accessible
degrees of freedom of a system. This is not a particularly surprising result, and can be thought of as
another way of saying that a system will generally try to maximise its entropy (i.e. how ‘spread out’ the
energy is in the system) by distributing the available energy evenly amongst all the accessible modes
of motion.
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When a gas takes up heat energy, this energy distributes itself equally in each of the independent ways by
which the molecules can absorb Energy, i.e. heat distributed into translational kinetic energy, rotational
kinetic energy, vibrational kinetic energy and vibrational potential Energy.
The theorem of equipartition of energy states that molecules in thermal equilibrium have the same
average energy associated with each independent degree of freedom of their motion and that the energy is
The equipartition result
serves well in the definition of kinetic temperature since that involves just the translational degrees of
freedom, but it fails to predict the specific heats of polyatomic gases because the increase in internal
energy associated with heating such gases adds energy to rotational and perhaps vibrational degrees of
freedom.
Each vibrational mode will get kT/2 for kinetic energy and kT/2 for potential energy - equality of kinetic
and potential energy is addressed in the virial theorem. Equipartition of energy also has implication for
electromagnetic radiation when it is in equilibrium with matter, each mode of radiation having kT of
energy in the Rayleigh-Jeans law.
For the translational degrees of freedom only, equipartition can be shown to follow from the Boltzmann
distribution.
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Determination of Heat Capacity
The heat capacity per unit volume is the heat required to raise the temperature of 1 mol of substance 1°C.
There are two types of the heat capacity depending on the substance is heated at constant volume or at
constant pressure. When heated at constant volume, all the supplied heat tends to increase the internal
energy of substance and the heat capacity is called Cv. When heated at constant pressure, the supplied
heat not only increases the internal energy of substance, but also to make possible expansion of the
substance against the extension of pressure, so the heat capacity is called Cp. Note that Cp is larger than
Cv.
Cp = Cv + R
How the principle of equipartition of energy predicts the observed values of heat capacity of all types of
gases.
Heat Capacity ratio or Atomicity (γ) = Cp/Cv= (5R/2)/(3R/2)=1.67
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The experimental value of the Cp is 4.97 cal/mol deg, the same as calculated above.
2. For diatomic gas
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Mean Free Path

The mean free path or average distance between collisions for a gas molecule may be estimated
from kinetic theory. Serway's approach is a good visualization - if the molecules have diameter d, then the
effective cross-section for collision can be modeled by
using a circle of diameter 2d to represent a molecule's effective collision area while treating the "target"
molecules as point masses. In time t, the circle would sweep out the volume shown and the number of
collisions can be estimated from the number of gas molecules that were in that volume.
The mean free path could then be taken as the length of the path divided by the number of collisions.
22
The problem with this expression is that the average molecular velocity is used, but the target molecules
are also moving. The frequency of collisions depends upon the average relative velocity of the randomly
moving molecules.
Refinement of Mean Free Path

The intuitive development of the mean free path expression suffers from a significant flaw - it assumes
that the "target" molecules are at rest when in fact they have a high average velocity. What is needed is
the average relative velocity, and the calculation of that velocity from the molecular speed
distribution yields the result
Average Relative Velocity

In order to calculate the mean free path for a molecule of a gas, it is necessary to assess the average
relative velocity of the molecules involved rather than just the average velocity of any given molecule.
The relative velocity of any two molecules can be expressed in terms of their vector velocities.
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The magnitude of the relative velocity can be expressed as the square root of the scalar product of the
velocity with itself.
This expression can be expanded as follows.
Taking the average of the terms leads to
Since the same average velocity would be associated with each molecule, this becomes
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which revises the expression for the effective volume swept out in time t
The resulting mean free path is
The number of molecules per unit volume can be determined from Avogadro's number and the ideal gas
law, leading to
It should be noted that this expression for the mean free path of molecules treats them as hard spheres,
whereas real molecules are not. For noble gases, the collisions are probably close to being
perfectly elastic, so the hard sphere approximation is probably a good one. But real molecules may have
a dipole moment and have significant electrical interaction as they approach each other. This has been
approached by using an electrical potential for the molecules to refine the calculation, and also by using
25
the measured viscosity of the gas as a parameter to refine the estimate of the mean free path of molecules
in real gases.
Problem 9:
(a) What is the mean free path λ for oxygen molecules at temperature T = 300 K and
pressure p = 1.0 atm? Assume that the molecular diameter is d = 290 pm and the gas
is ideal. (b) Assume the average speed of the oxygen molecules is v = 450 m/s. What
is the average time t between successive collisions for any given molecule? At what
rate does the molecule collide; that is, what is the frequency f of its collisions?
Van der Waals Equation of State

The ideal gas law treats the molecules of a gas as point particles with perfectly elastic collisions. This
works well for dilute gases in many experimental circumstances. But gas molecules are not point masses,
and there are circumstances where the properties of the molecules have an experimentally measurable
effect. A modification of the ideal gas law was proposed by Johannes D. van der Waals in 1873 to take
into account molecular size and molecular interaction forces. It is usually referred to as the van der Waals
equation of state.
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Critical constants
1. Critical Temperature: (TC)
The temperature at which it just becomes possible to liquefy a gas under compression is known as the
‘critical temperature’. Above this temperature the gas cannot be liquefied however large the applied
pressure may be. At this temperature the properties of the liquid and its saturated vapour are identical.
2. Critical pressure: (PC)

It is the pressure necessary to liquefy a gas at critical temperature.
3. Critical Volume: (VC)

It is the volume which unit mass (or one mole of a gas) of a gas occupies at the critical temperature and
pressure.
4. Critical Point:
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It is the point on the isothermal for the critical temperature at which the change of state from gaseous to
the liquid takes place under constant values of PC and VC.
TC, PC and VC are collectively known as ‘critical constants’.
Transmission of Heat
The transfer of heat is normally from a high temperature object to a lower temperature object. Heat
transfer changes the internal energy of both systems involved according to the First Law of
Thermodynamics.
Conduction
Heat is thermal energy. It can be transferred from one place to another by conduction. Metals are
good conductors of heat, but non-metals and gases are usually poor conductors. Poor conductors are
called insulators. Heat energy is conducted from the hot end of an object to the cold end.
Heat conduction (or thermal conduction) is the movement of heat from one solid to another one that has
different temperature when they are touching each other. For example, we can warm our hands by
touching hot-water bottles. When the cold hands touch the hot-water bottle, heat flows from the hotter
object (hot-water bottle) to the colder one (hand). People make things with different thermal conductivity,
for example cookware to heat things or insulated containers to prevent temperature change.
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Mechanisms of Conduction in metals

The electrons in a piece of metal can leave their atoms and move about in the metal as free electrons. The
parts of the metal atoms left behind are now positively charged metal ions. The ions are packed closely
together and they vibrate continually. The hotter the metal, the more kinetic energy these vibrations have.
This kinetic energy is transferred from hot parts of the metal to cooler parts by the free electrons. These
move through the structure of the metal, colliding with ions as they go.
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Mathematical idea of Heat Conduction

Conduction is heat transfer by means of molecular agitation within a material without any motion of the
material as a whole. If one end of a metal rod is at a higher temperature, then energy will be transferred
down the rod toward the colder end because the higher speed particles will collide with the slower ones
with a net transfer of energy to the slower ones. For heat transfer between two plane surfaces, such as heat
loss through the wall of a house, the rate of conduction heat transfer is:
Thermal conductivity
Heat transfer by conduction involves transfer of energy within a material without any motion of the
material as a whole. The rate of heat transfer depends upon the temperature gradient and the thermal
conductivity of the material. Thermal conductivity is a reasonably straightforward concept when you are
32
discussing heat loss through the walls of your house, and you can find tables which characterize the
building materials and allow you to make reasonable calculations.
More fundamental questions arise when you examine the reasons for wide variations in thermal
conductivity. Gases transfer heat by direct collisions between molecules, and as would be expected, their
thermal conductivity is low compared to most solids since they are dilute media. Non-metallic solids
transfer heat by lattice vibrations so that there is no net motion of the media as the energy propagates
through. Such heat transfer is often described in terms of "phonons", quanta of lattice vibrations. Metals
are much better thermal conductors than non-metals because the same mobile electrons which participate
in electrical conduction also take part in the transfer of heat.
Conceptually, the thermal conductivity can be thought of as the container for the medium-dependent
properties which relate the rate of heat loss per unit area to the rate of change of temperature.
For an ideal gas the heat transfer rate is proportional to the average molecular velocity, the mean free
path, and the molar heat capacity of the gas.
For non-metallic solids, the heat transfer is view as being transferred via lattice vibrations, as atoms
vibrating more energetically at one part of a solid transfer that energy to less energetic neighboring atoms.
This can be enhanced by cooperative motion in the form of propagating lattice waves, which in the
quantum limit are quantized as phonons. Practically, there is so much variability for non-metallic solids
that we normally just characterize the substance with a measured thermal conductivity when doing
ordinary calculations.
33
For metals, the thermal conductivity is quite high, and those metals which are the best electrical
conductors are also the best thermal conductors. At a given temperature, the thermal and electrical
conductivities of metals are proportional, but raising the temperature increases the thermal conductivity
while decreasing the electrical conductivity. This behavior is quantified in the Wiedemann-Franz Law:
where the constant of proportionality L is called the Lorenz number. Qualitatively, this relationship is
based upon the fact that the heat and electrical transport both involve the free electrons in the metal. The
thermal conductivity increases with the average particle velocity since that increases the forward transport
of energy. However, the electrical conductivity decreases with particle velocity increases because the
collisions divert the electrons from forward transport of charge. This means that the ratio of thermal to
electrical conductivity depends upon the average velocity squared, which is proportional to the kinetic
temperature.
Heat Convection
Convection is heat transfer by mass motion of a fluid such as air or water when the heated fluid is caused
to move away from the source of heat, carrying energy with it. Convection above a hot surface occurs
because hot air expands, becomes less dense, and rises (see Ideal Gas Law). Hot water is likewise less
dense than cold water and rises, causing convection currents which transport energy.
34
Convection can also lead to circulation in a liquid, as in the heating of a pot of water over a flame. Heated
water expands and becomes more buoyant. Cooler, more dense water near the surface descends and
patterns of circulation can be formed, though they will not be as regular as suggested in the drawing.
Convection cells are visible in the heated cooking oil in the pot at left. Heating the oil produces changes
in the index of refraction of the oil, making the cell boundaries visible. Circulation patterns form, and
presumably the wall-like structures visible are the boundaries between the circulation patterns.
Convection is thought to play a major role in transporting energy from the center of the Sun to the
surface, and in movements of the hot magma beneath the surface of the earth. The visible surface of the
Sun (the photosphere) has a granular appearance with a typical dimension of a granule being 1000
kilometers. The image at right is from the NASA Solar Physics website and is credited to G. Scharmer
and the Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope. The granules are described as convection cells which transport
heat from the interior of the Sun to the surface.
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In ordinary heat transfer on the Earth, it is difficult to quantify the effects of convection since it inherently
depends upon small nonuniformities in an otherwise fairly homogeneous medium. In modeling things like
the cooling of the human body, we usually just lump it in with conduction.
Heat Radiation
Radiation is a method of heat transfer that does not rely upon any contact between the heat source and the
heated object as is the case with conduction and convection. Heat can be transmitted through empty space
by thermal radiation often called infrared radiation. This is a type electromagnetic radiation . No mass is
exchanged and no medium is required in the process of radiation. Examples of radiation is the heat from
the sun, or heat released from the filament of a light bulb.
Thermal radiation is energy transfer by the emission of electromagnetic waves which carry energy away
from the emitting object. For ordinary temperatures (less than red hot"), the radiation is in the infrared
region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The relationship governing the net radiation from hot objects is
called the Stefan-Boltzmann law:
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While the typical situation envisioned here is the radiation from a hot object to its cooler surroundings,
the Stefan-Boltzmann law is not limited to that case. If the surroundings are at a higher temperature (TC >
T) then you will obtain a negative answer, implying net radiative transfer to the object.
Problem 10:
A Styrofoam ice box has a total area of 0.950 m2 and walls with an average thickness
of 2.50 cm. The box contains ice, water, and canned beverages at 0ºC . The inside of
the box is kept cold by melting ice. How much ice melts in one day if the ice box is
kept in the trunk of a car at 35.0ºC ?
37
Problem 11:
Water is boiling in an aluminum pan placed on an electrical element on a stovetop.

The sauce pan has a bottom that is 0.800 cm thick and 14.0 cm in diameter. The
boiling water is evaporating at the rate of 1.00 g/s. What is the temperatura
difference across (through) the bottom of the pan?
Problem 12:
Most houses are not airtight: air goes in and out around doors and windows, through cracks and
crevices, following wiring to switches and outlets, and so on. The air in a typical house is completely
replaced in less than an hour. Suppose that a moderately-sized house has inside dimensions
12.0m×18.0m×3.00m high, and that all air is replaced in 30.0 min. Calculate the heat transfer per
unit time in watts needed to warm the incoming cold air by 10.0ºC, thus replacing the Heat
transferred by convection alone.
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Problem 13: The average person produces heat at the rate of about 120 W when at rest. At what
rate must water evaporate from the body to get rid of all this energy? (This evaporation might
occur when a person is sitting in the shade and surrounding temperatures are the same as skin
temperature, eliminating heat transfer by other methods.)
Problem 14: What is the rate of heat transfer by radiation, with an unclothed person standing in a
dark room whose ambient temperatura is 22.0ºC . The person has a normal skin temperature of
33.0ºC and a surface area of 1.50 m2. The emissivity of skin is 0.97 in the infrared, where the
radiation takes place.
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Problem 15: Calculate the root-mean-square speed of a hydrogen molecule at room temperature.
Problem16: A tank of volume 0.300 m3 contains 2.00 mole of helium gas at 20.0oC. Assuming the
helium behaves like an ideal gas, (a) find the total internal energy of the gas. (b) What is the root-
mean-square speed of the helium atoms?
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Problem 17: A cylinder contains 3.00 mol of helium gas at a temperature of 300 K. (a) If the gas is
heated at constant volume, how much energy must be transferred by heat to the gas after it is
heated to 500 K? (b) How much energy must be transferred by heat to the gas at constant pressure?
Problem 18:
The fuel-air mixture in the cylinder of a diesel engine at 20.0o C is compressed from an initial
pressure of 1.00 atm and volume of 800 cm3 to a volume of 60.0 cm3. Assuming that the mixture
behave as an ideal gas with atomicity of 1.4 and that the compression is adiabatic, find the final
pressure and temperature of the mixture.
Problem 19: Nine particles have speeds of 5.0, 8.0, 12.0, 12.0, 12.0, 14.0, 14.0, 17.0, and 20.0 m/s. (a)
Find the average speed. (b) What is the rms speed? (c) What is the most probable speed of the
particles?
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Problem 20:
A 2.00-mol sample of oxygen gas is confined to a 5.00-L vessel at a pressure of 8.00 atm. Find the
average translational kinetic energy of an oxygen molecule under these conditions.
2N  m v2 
P  
3V  2 
m v2 3PV
K av   w here N  nN A  2N A
2 2N
K av 
3PV


3 8.00 atm  1.013  105 Pa atm 5.00  103 m  3

2 2N A  
2 2 m ol 6.02  1023 m olecules m ol 
K av  5.05  1021 J m olecule
Problem 21: A 1.00-mol sample of air (a diatomic ideal gas) at 300 K, confined in a cylinder under a
heavy piston, occupies a volume of 5.00 L. Determine the final volume of the gas after 4.40 kJ of
energy is transferred to the air by heat.
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CSE First Semester (Session: 2020-2021) Kinetic Theory of Gases

Kinetic Theory of Gases

Dr. Khokon Hossen

Ideal Gas Law

R = universal gas constant = 8.3145 J/mol K

k = Boltzmann constant = 1.38066 x 10-23 J/K = 8.617385 x 10-5 eV/K

NA = Avogadro's number = 6.0221 x 1023 /mol

Ideal Gas Law with Constraints

which is referred to as Boyle's Law.

The theory for ideal gases makes the following assumptions:

Applications of Kinetic Theory in various fields of Physics:

Newton's Laws and Collisions

Gas Pressure from Kinetic Theory

and assuming random speeds in all directions

Then the pressure in a container can be

Expressed in terms of average molecular kinetic energy:

This leads to the expression

substitution gives the root mean square (rms) molecular velocity:

The average speed:

The most probable speeds:

Calculate the average kinetic energy of a molecule of a gas at a temperature of 300 K.

Mathematical form for Kinetic Energy (K. E.)

The equipartition result

Determination of Heat Capacity

Heat Capacity ratio or Atomicity (γ) = Cp/Cv= (5R/2)/(3R/2)=1.67

2. For diatomic gas

Mean Free Path

Refinement of Mean Free Path

Average Relative Velocity

This expression can be expanded as follows.

Taking the average of the terms leads to

The resulting mean free path is

Van der Waals Equation of State

2. Critical pressure: (PC)

3. Critical Volume: (VC)

TC, PC and VC are collectively known as ‘critical constants’.

Mechanisms of Conduction in metals

Mathematical idea of Heat Conduction

Water is boiling in an aluminum pan placed on an electrical element on a stovetop.

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