CHE 120 Homework # 1

Due Friday, January 15

1. Consider the following properties of the atmosphere near the coast in Southern California:

Average surface pressure: 1010 mbar

Average temperature: 295 K

Atmospheric gas composition (by volume): Nitrogen (N2) 77.0%, Oxygen (O2) 20.7%, Water
(H2O) 1.4%, Argon (Ar), 0.9%.

a. What is the average partial pressure of N2 in the atmosphere, pA, in units of Pa?
b. What is the average molar concentration (mol/m3) of N2 in the atmosphere, cA?
c. What is the average total molar concentration (mol/m3) of all gases in the atmosphere?
d. What is the average total mass concentration (kg/m3) of all gases in the atmosphere?

2. In a gas-phase diffusion mass-transfer process, the steady-state flux of helium in a binary mixture of
helium and neon is 3.8 x 10-9 kgmole/cm2s, and the flux of neon is 0. At a particular point in the
diffusion space, the concentration of helium is 0.023 kgmole/m3 and the concentration of neon is
0.045 kgmole/m3. Estimate the individual net velocities of helium and neon along the direction of
mass transfer, the average molar velocity, and the average mass velocity.

3. Estimate the value of the gas-phase diffusion coefficient for the following pairs using the Hirshfelder
equation:

a. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen (N2) at 298 K and 1.5 x 105 Pa

b. Hydrogen (H2) and air at 325 K and 2.0 x 105 Pa

4. The diffusion of gases through living tissue is often first approximated as the diffusion in liquid
water. Estimate the diffusion coefficient of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in water by the Wilke-Chang
and Hayduk-Laudie correlations at 97.5 oF.