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Consider a balloon filled with helium gas at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Calculate (a) the average de Broglie wavelength of the helium atoms and (b) the average distance between atoms under these conditions. The average kinetic energy of an atom is equal to 3/2kT, wherek is the Boltzmann constant. (c) Can the atoms be treated as particles under these conditions? Explain.

Short Answer

Expert verified

(a) The average de Broglie wavelength of the helium atoms is72.8pm.

(b) The average distance between atoms is7.69m.

(c) The helium atoms can be treated as particles.

Step by step solution

01

Identification of the given data

The given data can be listed below as,

  • The average kinetic energy of an atom is,KEavg=32kT .
  • The value of room temperature is,T=300K .
02

Significance of the average kinetic energy

The value of the average kinetic energy of a moving atom can be obtained with the help of its absolute temperature and the Boltzmann constant. The relation between the average kinetic energy and temperature is directly linear.

03

Step 3(a): Determination of the average de Broglie wavelength of the helium atoms

The expression to calculate the average de Broglie wavelength of the helium atoms is expressed as,

λavg=hpavg=h2mHeKEavg=h2mHe32kT=h3mHekT

Here, λavgis the average de Broglie wavelength of the helium atoms,k is the Boltzmann constant whose value is 1.38×10-23J/K , his the Plank’s constant whose value is6.63×10-34J·s, mHeis the mass a helium atom whose value ismHe=4.00uand pavgis the average momentum.

Substitute all the known values in the above equation.

λavg=6.63×10-34J·s1N·m·s1J·s34.0u1.67×10-27kg1u1.38×10-23J/K300K1N2·s21kg·J≈7.28×10-11m≈7.28×10-11m1012pm1m≈72.8pm

Thus, the average de Broglie wavelength of the helium atoms is 72.8pm.

04

Step 4(b): Determination of the average distance between atoms

The expression to calculate the average momentum of helium atoms is expressed as,

pavg=2mHeKEavg=2mHe32kT=3mHekT

Here, pavgis the average momentum of helium atoms.

Substitute all the known values in the above equation.

pavg=34.0u1.67×10-27kg1u1.38×10-23J/K300K1kg2·m2/s21kg·J≈9.11×10-24kg·m/s

The expression to calculate the average distance between atoms is expressed as,

davg=kTpavg3

Here, davgis the average distance between atoms.

Substitute all the known values in the above equation.

davg=1.38×10-23J/K300K9.11×10-24kg·m/s1m21J·s/kg·m3≈7.69m

Thus, the average distance between atoms is 7.69m.

05

Step 5(c): Determination of whether the atoms can be treated as particles under these conditions or not

Since the value of the average de Broglie wavelength of the helium atoms 7.28×10-11mis less than the average distance between atoms 7.69m. So, the helium atoms can be treated as particles.

Thus, the helium atoms can be treated as particles.

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