The Property of Gases –

Kinetic Molecular Theory

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-chemistry/gases-and-
kinetic-molecular-theory-ap
Kinetic Molecular Theory of Gases
• The word kinetic refers to motion.

• Kinetic energy is the energy an object has because of its

motion.

• Kinetic Molecular Theory makes assumptions about:

▫ Size
▫ Motion
▫ Energy of gas particles
Kinetic Molecular Theory

1. According to the KMT all matter consists of tiny particles

that are in constant, random motion

• Move in a straight line until they collide with other particles or with
the walls of the container.
Kinetic Molecular Theory
2. Gas particles are much smaller than the distances
between them. Most of a gas consists of empty space.
 Gas consists of small particles that are separated from one
another by empty space

 Most of the volume of a gas consists of empty space

 Because they are so far apart, there are no attractive or

repulsive forces between the gas molecules

 The motion of one particle is independent of the motion of

other particles
Kinetic Molecular Theory
3. No kinetic energy is lost when gas particles collide with
each other or with the walls of the container (elastic
collision)

 Undergoes elastic collision – no kinetic energy is lost when

particles collide.

 The total amount of kinetic energy remains constant.

Kinetic Molecular Theory
4. All gases have the same average kinetic energy at a
given temperature
 Temperature is a measure of average kinetic energy of particle
in a sample of matter.
 Kinetic energy and temperature are directly related
 The higher the temperature, the greater the kinetic energy
 The Kelvin temperature of a substance is directly proportional to
the average kinetic energy of the particles of the substance.
273 + _____oC = _______Kelvin
 There is no temperature lower than 0 Kelvin (Absolute Zero).
Kinetic Energy = ½ mv2;
 where m = mass and v = velocity
Absolute Zero

• The greater the atomic and molecular motion, the greater the
temperature is of a substance.

• If all atomic and molecular motion would stop, the temperature

would be at absolute zero (0 Kelvin or -273 oC)

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-absolute-zero-604287
 Maxwell–Boltzmann Distributions
The air molecules surrounding us are not all traveling at the
same speed, even if the air is all at a single temperature.
Some of the air molecules will be moving extremely fast,
some will be moving with moderate speeds, and some of the
air molecules will hardly be moving at all.

Because of this, we can't ask questions like "What is the

speed of an air molecule in a gas?" since a molecule in a gas
could have any one of a huge number of possible speeds.
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/thermodynamics/temp-kinetic-theory-ideal-gas-law/a/what-is-the-maxwell-
boltzmann-distribution

! Temperature is directly proportional to kinetic energy.

So instead of asking about any one particular gas molecule, we ask
questions like, "What is the distribution of speeds in a gas at a certain
temperature?"

In the mid to late 1800s, James Clerk Maxwell and Ludwig Boltzmann
figured out the answer to this question.

Their result is referred to as the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution,

because it shows how the speeds of molecules are distributed for an
ideal gas.
If the dotted line represents the activation energy, as the temperature
increases, so does the fraction of molecules that can overcome the
activation energy barrier.
As a result, the reaction rate increases.

*Activation energy is the minimum amount of energy required to

initiate a reaction.
Because all atoms of an element have roughly the same mass, the kinetic energy of identical atoms
is determined by velocity (KE= ½mv2)
Velocity - Speed of an object; the change in position over time. 
You don’t need the formula in AP
Chemistry

This fraction of molecules can be found through the

expression:

where R is the gas constant and T is the temperature in Kelvin