Question

Kinetic theory of gases is based on the

molecular picture of matter.

a) Write any two postulates of kinetic

theory of gases.

b) Write short note on:

i) Equipartition of energy.

ii) Mean free path

Answer 1

postulates of kinetic  theory of gases.

.A gas consists of molecules in constant random motion.

.Gas molecules influence each other only by collision; they exert no other forces on each other.

.All collisions between gas molecules are perfectly elastic; all kinetic energy is conserved.

i) Equipartition of energy

The equipartition theorem shows that in thermal equilibrium, any degree of freedom (such as a component of the position or velocity of a particle) which appears only quadratically in the energy has an average energy of ​1⁄2kBT and therefore contributes ​1⁄2kB to the system's heat capacity

ii) Mean free path

the mean free path is the average distance traveled by a moving particle (such as an atom, a molecule, a photon) between successive impacts (collisions), which modify its direction or energy or other particle properties