Question

Consider a gas of neutrons. Do you expect it to behave much better as an ideal gas as compared to hydrogen gas at the same pressure and temperature?

Answer 1

Yes, according to the kinetic theory postulates, a better ideal gas than hydrogen will be a gas of neutrons.

This is due to the following reasons:

• According to the Kinetic theory, there will be no interaction between neutrons. Also, the molecules of an ideal gas should not interact with each other. Hydrogen molecules on the other hand, due to the presence of charges in them, interact with each other.

• Neutrons are smaller than hydrogen. This indicates that gas molecules should have negligible size and be points, thereby fulfils another postulate of the kinetic theory.