KINETIC THEORY OF GASES

Equation of state of a perfect gas: The relationship between pressure P, volume V and
absolute temperature T of a gas is called its equation of state.
The equation of state of an ideal gas PV = nRT, where n is the number of moles of the
enclosed gas and R is the molar gas constant which is the same for all gases and its value is R
= 8.314 JK-1 mol-1
Kinetic theory of gases – Assumptions:
1. All gas molecules constantly move in random directions.
2. The size of molecules is very less than the separation between the molecules
3. The molecules of the sample do not exert any force on the walls of the container during
the collision when the gas sample is contained.
4. Collision between two molecules and between a molecule and the wall takes place for a
very small time interval.
5. Collisions between molecules and wall and even between molecules are elastic in nature.
6. Newton’s laws of motion can be seen in all the molecules in a certain gas sample. With due
course of time, a gas sample comes to a steady state. The molecule’s distribution and the
density of molecules do not depend on the position, distance and time.
Pressure of an ideal gas:
1 2 1 mN 2
P= ρ v rms or P= v
2 3 V rms
Where, ρ is the density of the gas, m is the mass of each molecule, N is number of molecules
and v rms is root mean square speed of gas.

Relation between Pressure and Kinetic Energy.

1M 2
Kinetic energy per unit volume = v
2 V rms
2
Therefore, Pressure P ¿ E
3
Root mean square speed ( v rms ¿of gas molecules is defined as the square root of the mean of
the squares of the speeds of gas molecules.
Kinetic interpretation of temperature: The total average kinetic energy of all the molecules
of a gas is proportional to its absolute temperature (T). Thus, the temperature of a gas is a
measure of the average kinetic energy of the molecules of the gas.
3
U = RT
2
According to this interpretation of temperature, the average kinetic energy U is zero at T = 0,
i.e., the motion of molecules ceases altogether at absolute zero.
Laws of Gases:
1. Boyle’s law: At constant temperature, for constant mass of the gas, pressure is inversely
1
proportional to the volume. i.e P ∝ . Therefore, PV = constant at constant temperature.
V
2. Charles Law: At constant pressure, for constant mass of the gas, volume is directly
V1 T1
proportional to the temperature. i.e V ∝T . Therefore, =
V2 T2

3. Gay-lussac Law: At constant volume, for constant mass of the gas, pressure is directly
P1 T 1
proportional to the temperature. i.e P ∝T . Therefore, =
P2 T 2

4. Avogadro Law: According to this law at same pressure, same volume and same
temperature number of molecules are same.

At STP number of molecules in 1 mole of gas is N A =6.023 ×1023

Degree of Freedom: The total number of independent modes (ways) in which a system can
possess energy is called the degree of freedom (f).
The degree of freedom are of three types:
(i) Translational degree of freedom (ii) Rotational degree of freedom
(iii)Vibrational degree of freedom
Monoatomic gas: It can have 3 degrees of freedom (all translational).
Diatomic gas: A diatomic molecule has 5 degrees of freedom: 3 translational and 2
rotational.
Triatomic gas (Non-linear): It has 6 degrees of freedom: 3 translational and 3 rotational
The above degrees of freedom are shown at room temperature. Further at high temperature
the molecule will have additional degrees of freedom, due to vibrational motion.
Law of Equipartition of Energy: For any system in thermal equilibrium, the total energy is
equally distributed among its various degree of freedom. And the energy associated with each
1
molecule of the system per degree of freedom of the system is kT .
2
Mean Free Path: The average distance travelled by a gas molecule is known as mean free
path. Let λ1, λ2, λ3 ......... λn be the distance travelled by a gas molecule during n collisions
respectively, then the mean free path of a gas molecule is given by
λ1 + λ 2+ λ3 + λ 4 +… … .+ λ n
λ=
n
where n = Number of molecules per unit volume