Carbon dioxide

CHEMISTRY · Multi-part · AP · Chemistry · Properties of Substances and Mixtures · Properties of Substances and Mixtures

Problem

Carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and methane have the following van der Waals constants: Gas a (L2 atm mol−2)a\,(\text{L}^2\,\text{atm}\,\text{mol}^{-2}) b (L mol−1)b\,(\text{L}\,\text{mol}^{-1}) CO2_2 3.59 0.0427 N2_2 1.39 0.0391 CH4_4 2.25 0.0428 One mole of each gas is sealed in an otherwise evacuated 2.00 L flask at 250 K. (a) For each gas, calculate the magnitude (in atm) of the pressure-lowering attractive term an2V2\dfrac{a n^2}{V^2} under the stated conditions. (b) For each gas, calculate the volume-correction term nbnb (in L). (c) Based on your results in parts (a) and (b), determine which gas will exhibit the greatest overall deviation from the ideal-gas law at 250 K in this container. Support your answer quantitatively. (d) If the temperature were raised to 500 K while volume and amount remained constant, predict how the relative importance of the two correction terms would change for CO2_2. Explain your reasoning without further calculation.

Related theory

Browse the problem library