Practice question · Multiple choice
An ideal gas model assumes particles possess zero volume and exert no attractions. Why do real gases deviate from this model precisely at low temperatures rather than high temperatures?
Hints
- How does particle kinetic energy compare to potential attraction as temperature drops?
- What happens to molecular motion when thermal energy is removed from the system?
Show the answer
C. Low thermal energy lets weak particle attractions dominate
Why
At high speeds, kinetic energy dwarfs intermolecular attractions during collisions. When a gas cools, particles move slowly enough for those transient attractive forces to alter trajectories, eventually prompting condensation into a liquid.
Practise Gases, Kinetic Theory and Intermolecular Forces
The app has 5 more questions on this lesson, and keeps your place in the course. Chemistry I is free to start.
More questions on Gases, Kinetic Theory and Intermolecular Forces
- A sample of gas occupies 3.0 L at 300 K. If the pressure is held constant and the temperature is raised to…
- Helium has molar mass 4 g/mol and oxygen 32 g/mol. At the same temperature, set how many times faster the…
- Arrange these intermolecular forces from weakest to strongest.
- How many moles of an ideal gas occupy 22.4 L at 273 K and 1.00 atm? Use R = 0.0821 L atm mol⁻¹ K⁻¹ and give…
- Sort each solid by the type of bonding that holds the crystal together.
- Which assumptions does the kinetic molecular model make about an ideal gas?