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Ch 18: A Macroscopic Description of Matter
Chapter 18, Problem 20

A 1.0 m ✕ 1.0 m ✕ 1.0 m cube of nitrogen gas is at 20℃ and 1.0 atm. Estimate the number of molecules in the cube with a speed between 700 m/s and 1000 m/s.

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First, calculate the temperature in Kelvin by adding 273.15 to the Celsius temperature. This is necessary for using the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution formula.
Use the ideal gas law, PV = nRT, to find the number of moles (n) of nitrogen in the cube. Here, P is the pressure, V is the volume, R is the gas constant, and T is the temperature in Kelvin.
Convert the number of moles of nitrogen to the number of molecules by multiplying by Avogadro's number, which is approximately $6.022 \times 10^{23}$ molecules per mole.
Apply the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution function to find the fraction of molecules with speeds between 700 m/s and 1000 m/s. The distribution function is given by $f(v) = 4\pi \left(\frac{m}{2\pi kT}\right)^{3/2} v^2 e^{-\frac{mv^2}{2kT}}$, where m is the mass of a nitrogen molecule, k is the Boltzmann constant, and v is the speed of the molecules.
Multiply the total number of molecules by the fraction obtained from the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution to estimate the number of molecules with speeds in the specified range.

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Ideal Gas Law

The Ideal Gas Law relates the pressure, volume, temperature, and number of moles of a gas through the equation PV = nRT. This law is essential for understanding the behavior of gases under various conditions and allows us to calculate the number of moles of nitrogen gas in the cube based on its volume, temperature, and pressure.
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Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution

The Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution describes the distribution of speeds among molecules in a gas. It shows that at a given temperature, molecules have a range of speeds, and this distribution can be used to estimate the number of molecules within a specific speed range, such as between 700 m/s and 1000 m/s in this case.
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Avogadro's Number

Avogadro's Number (approximately 6.022 x 10²³) is the number of molecules in one mole of a substance. This concept is crucial for converting the number of moles of nitrogen gas, calculated from the Ideal Gas Law, into the actual number of molecules present in the cube, allowing for a complete solution to the problem.
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Related Practice
Textbook Question
A 6.0-cm-diameter cylinder of nitrogen gas has a 4.0-cm-thick movable copper piston. The cylinder is oriented vertically, as shown in FIGURE P19.49, and the air above the piston is evacuated. When the gas temperature is 20°C, the piston floats 20 cm above the bottom of the cylinder. a. What is the gas pressure?
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Textbook Question
A 6.0-cm-diameter cylinder of nitrogen gas has a 4.0-cm-thick movable copper piston. The cylinder is oriented vertically, as shown in FIGURE P19.49, and the air above the piston is evacuated. When the gas temperature is 20°C, the piston floats 20 cm above the bottom of the cylinder. c. What is the new equilibrium temperature of the gas?
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Textbook Question
14 g of nitrogen gas at STP are pressurized in an isochoric process to a pressure of 20 atm. What are (a) the final temperature,
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Textbook Question
Photons of light scatter off molecules, and the distance you can see through a gas is proportional to the mean free path of photons through the gas. Photons are not gas molecules, so the mean free path of a photon is not given by Equation 20.3, but its dependence on the number density of the gas and on the molecular radius is the same. Suppose you are in a smoggy city and can barely see buildings 500 m away. b. How far would you be able to see if the temperature suddenly rose from 20°C to a blazing hot 1500°C with the pressure unchanged?
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Textbook Question
Interstellar space, far from any stars, is filled with a very low density of hydrogen atoms (H, not H₂). The number density is about 1 atom/cm³ and the temperature is about 3 K. a. Estimate the pressure in interstellar space. Give your answer in Pa and in atm.
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Textbook Question
Equation 20.3 is the mean free path of a particle through a gas of identical particles of equal radius. An electron can be thought of as a point particle with zero radius. b. Electrons travel 3.0 km through the Stanford Linear Accelerator. In order for scattering losses to be negligible, the pressure inside the accelerator tube must be reduced to the point where the mean free path is at least 50 km. What is the maximum possible pressure inside the accelerator tube, assuming T = 20℃? Give your answer in both Pa and atm.
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