Question

Which will diffuse faster ,ammonia or CO2? what are their relative rates of diffusion.

Answer 1

To answer this question, we will use Grahams Law of effusion:
Which states that the rate of effusion of a gas is inversely proportional to its density. This means, the heavier the gas is(in terms of its molecular weight), the slower it is.

Having this in mind, we can look at the diffusion rate  of the two gases by looking at their molecular weights.(note that diffusion process is slower than effusion but the same law can apply for both)

Molecular weight of ammonia NH4= 14+(1x4)= 18
Molecular weight of CO2 = 12 +(32x2) =76
Hence, ammonia is lighter and from Grahams law of effusion, it then means that it will diffuse faster than CO2, which is heavier.

Answer 2

To answer this question, we will use Grahams Law of effusion:

Which states that the rate of effusion of a gas is inversely proportional to its density. This means, the heavier the gas is(in terms of its molecular weight), the slower it is.

Having this in mind, we can look at the diffusion rate  of the two gases by looking at their molecular weights.(note that diffusion process is slower than effusion but the same law can apply for both)

Molecular weight of ammonia NH4= 14+(1x4)= 18

Molecular weight of CO2 = 12 +(32x2) =76

Hence, ammonia is lighter and from Grahams law of effusion, it then means that it will diffuse faster than CO2, which is heavier.