A cubical container with sides of 0.2 m is filled with an ideal gas at a temperature of 400 K. The gas consists of 5.0 * 1023 gas molecules. Each molecule has a mass of 2.0 * 10−26 kg. Calculate the average force exerted by the gas molecules on the walls of the container, considering perfectly elastic collisions.
9.24 * 107 N
5.47 * 105 N
5.03 * 105 N
3.25 * 106 N
Given data:
Side length of the container (L) = 0.2 m
Temperature (T) = 400 K
Number of molecules (N) = 5.0 * 1023
Mass of each molecule (m) = 2.0 * 10−26 kg
Boltzmann constant (k) = 1.38 * 10−23 J/K
Step 1: Calculate the root mean square (rms) speed of the gas molecules. The rms speed is given by the formula:
Substitute the given values and solve for vrms:
Step 2: Calculate the average force exerted by the gas molecules on the walls of the container. The average force can be calculated using the formula:
Substitute the given values and the calculated vrms and solve for F: