Question

What happens to the average kinetic energy of a gas when the particles of the gas collide against each other at a constant temperature and volume? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

recall the kinetic molar theory of gases.

for an ideal gas, the molecular collisions are perfectly elastic, so there should be no kinetic energy loss between collisions. also recall that temperature by definition is the average KE of all the particles in a substance, so if the temperature of our system is constant, that means the average KE is also constant. so the KE of the gas should be constant.

it doesn't say whether your system is ideal or not, but in reality, there is a small amount of KE loss over time as collisions are not perfectly elastic in reality.

I'll put a reference that will hopefully help explain this more thoroughly:

https://opentextbc.ca/introductorychemistry/chapter/kinetic-molecular-theory-of-gases/

Answer 2

Okay I will type of somethings and I'll let you know what my final outcome is

Answer 3

sure just make sure to get the key points (basically constant under ideal conditions, in reality some KE loss)

Answer 4

This is what I came up with:
The collisions between gas particles are elastic, meaning there will not be any type of net gain or loss of kinetic energy due to the collision. This means that a sample of gas will have a constant average kinetic energy at a constant temperature and volume. Long story short, the average kinetic energy of gas will remain constant when the particles of gas collide against each other at a constant temperature and volume.

Answer 5

I did not add too much because it is only asking what will happen to the "average kinetic energy"

Answer 6

yeah that's probably fine. the only thing I'd add somewhere is that this only applies for an ideal gas.

Answer 7

Okiii will do thanks!