Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________ Period: _________

Gizmo - Temperature and Particle Motion

In today’s Gizmo activity you will be exploring the relationship between the temperature, molar mass
and velocity of gas particles. Before we launch the gizmo, let’s take a look at the measurements we will
explore today.

Velocity is the speed at which the gas particles are moving. This is measured in units of meters per
second (m/s). A larger number for velocity means the particles are moving at a faster speed. We will
look at how temperature and molar mass impact the velocity of the particles.

While we think of temperature as how hot or cold something is, temperature is really a measure of the
average kinetic energy of the gas particles.

Temperature is usually measured in units of Celsius (C) but needs to be in units of Kelvin (K) for
calculations we will perform with gases. To convert between Celsius and Kelvin involves the simple
equation below.

K = C + 273

Let’s practice…

20 C = ___293______ K 100 C = ____373_______ K 150 C = 423_K

Molar mass gives us a measure of how heavy the gas particles are, and is measured in grams per mole
(g/mol). We learned to calculate this earlier in the year by looking at the mass values on the periodic
table and rounding them to the nearest whole number.

Let’s practice…

Calculate the molar mass of the following gases.

H2 NH3 SO2

#atoms x Mass N = 1 x 14=14 64.066 via goggle :) ( i was lazy)

2x1=2 H= 3 x 1 = 3

17
When you launch this gizmo
you should see the following
screen.

Check the top box beside the

purple square to show the
most probable velocity of the
particles. A purple dashed
line should appear on the
graph, as well as a number
that is a measurement of the
most probable velocity of the
gas particles as they move.

Part I: Exploring Temperature and Velocity

For this exploration we will be looking at the effect of temperature changes on the velocity of gas
particles. We will be studying one gas, Hydrogen, and its velocity at various temperatures.

1. Select Hydrogen from the drop down menu. Set the temperature to each of the values listed in the table
below. Record the most probable velocity at each temperature.

Temperature (K) 100 250 500 750 1000

Most probable 908 m/s 1436 m/s 2031 m/s 2487 m/s 2872 m/s
velocity (m/s)

2. Look at the data collected.

a. What do you notice happens to the velocity measurements as the temperature increases?

It gets higher

b. Is the relationship between temperature and velocity direct or inverse?

It is direct as the temperature gets higher so does the velocity.

 3. Move the temperature slider back to 100 K. Slowly drag it up to 1000 K again without stopping to
record measurements. What do you observe about the motion of the gas particles as you increase the
temperature?
The speed of the particles start to increase

4. Summarize what you learned about the effect of temperature on the motion of gas particles.

The higher the temperature the faster the motion of gas particles

Part II: Exploring Molar Mass and Velocity

For this exploration we will be looking at the effect of molar mass on the motion of gas particles. We will
be studying various gases at a common temperature, 1000 K.

1. Set the temperature to 1000 K. Select each gas from the drop down menu to record the velocity at 1000
K.

Gas Helium Water Vapor Nitrogen Oxygen Carbon

(He) (H2O) (N2) (O2) dioxide
(CO2)

Molar Mass 4 g/mol 1x2 14 x 2 16 x 2 12 x 1

(g/mol) 16 x 1 28g/mol 32 g/mol 16 x 2
16 + 2 12 + 32
Calculate! 18 g/mol 44 g/mol

Most probable 2,039 m/s 961 m/s 770 m/s 721 m/s 615 m/s
velocity (m/s)

2. Look at the data that you collected.

a. What do you notice happens to the velocity of the gas particles as the molar mass increases?

Molar mass increase,velocity of the gas particles decrease

b. Is the relationship between molar mass and velocity direct or inverse?
Inverse

3. Summarize what you learned about the effect of molar mass on the velocity of gas particles.
 I learned that as the molar mass of a compound increases, the velocity of the gas particles
decreases

Part III: Application

Out of each pair, predict which one will have the fastest velocity and explain your choice.

1. Kr @ 100 K or Xe @ 100 K

Kr because the molar mass is smaller.

2. Ne @ 200 K or Ne @ 20 K

Ne @ 200 K because the temperature is higher.

3. Cl2 @ 500 K or Cl2 @ 700 KCl2 @

700 K because the temperature is higher.

I2 @ 400 K or F2 @ 400 K

F2 because the molar mass is smaller.

Br2 @ 300 K or F2 @ 600 K

F2 because the temperature is higher.