Chem 113A Homework #7

Solutions
Problem 1
The escape velocity from the Earths surface is given by vE = (2gR)1/2 where g is
gravitational acceleration (9.80 m s2) and R is the radius of the Earth (6.37 106 m).
a) At what temperature will mp for N2 be equal to the escape velocity?
b) How does the answer for part (a) change if the gas of interest is He?

Problem 2
Starting with the Maxwell speed distribution, demonstrate that the probability
distribution for translational energy for is given by:

( ) = 2

3/2

1/2

Problem 3
Using the distribution of particle translational energy provided in Problem 2, derive
expressions for the average and most probable translational energies for a collection of
gaseous particles.

Problem 4
Imagine a cubic container with sides 1 cm in length that contains 1 atm of Ar at 298 K.
How many gaswall collisions are there per second?

Problem 5
You are a NASA engineer faced with the task of ensuring that the material on the hull of
a spacecraft can withstand puncturing by space debris. The initial cabin air pressure in the
craft of 1 atm can drop to 0.7 atm before the safety of the crew is jeopardized. The
volume of the cabin is 100 m3, and the temperature in the cabin is 285 K. Assuming it
takes the space shuttle about 8 hours from entry into orbit until landing, what is the
largest circular aperture created by a hull puncture that can be safely tolerated assuming
that the flow of gas out of the spaceship is effusive? Can the escaping gas from the
spaceship be considered as an effusive process? (You can assume that the air is
adequately represented by N2.)

Problem 6
The diffusion coefficient for CO2 at 273 K and 1 atm is 1.00 105 m2 s1. Estimate the
collisional cross section of CO2 given this diffusion coefficient.

Problem 7
A thermopane window consists of two sheets of glass separated by a volume filled with
air (which we will model as N2 where = 0.0240 J K1 m1 s1). For a thermopane
window that is 1 m2 in area with a separation between glass sheets of 3 cm, what is the
loss of energy when the exterior of the window is at a temperature of 10C and the
interior of the window is at a temperature of 22C?

Problem 8
Consider the first-order decomposition of cyclobutane at 438C at constant volume:
() 2 ()

a) Express the rate of the reaction in terms of the change in total pressure as a function of
time.
b) The rate constant for the reaction is 2.48 10 . What is the half-life?
c) After initiation of the reaction, how long will it take for the initial pressure of C4H8 to
drop to 90% of its initial value?

Problem 9
Compute ave, mp, rms for O2 at 300 and 500 K. How would your answers
change for H2

Problem 10
The vapor pressure of various substances can be determined using effusion. In this
process, the material of interest is placed in an oven (referred to as a Knudsen cell) and
the mass of material lost through effusion is determined. The mass loss () is given by
= where is the collisional flux, A is the area of the aperture through
which effusion occurs, m is the mass of one atom, and is the time interval over which
the mass loss occurs. This technique is quite useful for determining the vapor pressure of
nonvolatile materials. A 1.00 g sample of UF6 is placed in a Knudsen cell equipped with a
100 m-radius hole and heated to 18.2C where the vapor pressure is 100 Torr.
a) The best scale in your lab has an accuracy of 0.01 g. What is the minimum amount of
time must you wait until the mass change of the cell can be determined by your balance?

b) How much UF6 will remain in the Knudsen cell after 5 min of effusion?

Problem 11
Two parallel metal plates separated by 1 cm are held at 300 and 298 K, respectively. The
space between the plates is filled with N2 ( = 0.430 nm2 and CV,m = 5/2 R). Determine
the heat flow between the two plates in units of W cm2.