Internal Energy
 

Internal Energy problem 22


  • State


    • what is meant by internal energy,


    • the basic assumption of the kinetic theory of gases that leads to the conclusion that there is zero potential energy between the molecules of an ideal gas.


  • The pressure and volume of an ideal gas are related by




    where is the number of molecules, is the mass of a molecule and is the mean-square speed of the molecules. Use this equation to show that the mean kinetic energy of a molecule is given by




    where is the Boltzmann constant and is the thermodynamic temperature.


  • A cylinder contains of oxygen gas at a temperature of . The mass of of oxygen gas is . It may be assumed that the oxygen behaves as an ideal gas. Calculate, for the oxygen gas in the cylinder,


    • the mean kinetic energy of a molecule,


    • the number of molecules,


    • the total internal energy.


 

main author and content editor: Ebenezer Famadewa