Which of the following gases will have the highest RMS speed at the same tempera
Practice Questions
Q1
Which of the following gases will have the highest RMS speed at the same temperature?
Oxygen (M = 32 g/mol)
Nitrogen (M = 28 g/mol)
Hydrogen (M = 2 g/mol)
Carbon Dioxide (M = 44 g/mol)
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
Which of the following gases will have the highest RMS speed at the same temperature?
Step 1: Understand what RMS speed is. RMS speed stands for Root Mean Square speed, which is a way to measure the average speed of gas molecules.
Step 2: Know that the RMS speed of a gas is affected by its molar mass. The formula shows that RMS speed is inversely proportional to the square root of the molar mass.
Step 3: Remember that 'inversely proportional' means that as the molar mass increases, the RMS speed decreases.
Step 4: Identify the gases you are comparing and find their molar masses. For example, hydrogen (H2) has a molar mass of about 2 g/mol, while other gases like oxygen (O2) have a molar mass of about 32 g/mol.
Step 5: Compare the molar masses. The gas with the lowest molar mass will have the highest RMS speed.
Step 6: Conclude that since hydrogen has the lowest molar mass among common gases, it will have the highest RMS speed at the same temperature.
