' 1

Gases Problems
[Problems adapted and edited from: Maron S.H. and Lando J.B. Fundamentals of
Physical Chemistry, Macmillan Publishing Co., NY, 1974, Ch. 1, pp. 57-60]

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, assume all gases in the following

problems to be ideal.
1.

Two grams of O2 are confined in a 2-liter vessel by a pressure of 1.21

atm. What is the temperature of the gas in C?

2.

A certain gas occupies a volume of 6 L under a pressure of 720 mm Hg at

25 C. What volume will this gas occupy under standard conditions of
temperature and pressure (STP)?

3.

In a certain experiment, it was found that 4.00 grams of CH4 at 27.0 C

and a pressure of 2.50 atm occupy a volume of 2.46 L. Calculate the value
of the gas constant R in ccatmK1mol1 and in Latmmol1K1.

4.

Find the density (in g/L) of ammonia gas at 100 C when confined by a
pressure of 1600 torr.

5.

At 0 C and under a pressure of 1000 mm Hg, a given weight of N2

occupies a volume of 1 L. At 100 C, the same weight of gas under the
same pressure occupies a volume of 0.6313 L. Calculate the absolute zero
of temperature in degrees Celsius (centigrade), and give reasons for the
observed difference from the accepted value.

6.

The composition of a mixture of gases in percentage by volume is 30%

N2, 50 % CO, 15 % H2, and 5 % O2. Calculate the percentage by weight
of each gas in the mixture. [Note: volume % is proportional to mole %.]

7.

Assuming that dry air contains 79% N2 and 21% O2 by volume, calculate
the density of moist air at 25 C and 1 atm pressure when the relative
humidity is 60 %. The equilibrium vapor pressure of water at 25 C is
23.76 mm Hg. [Note: Relative humidity is defined as the ratio of the
amount of water vapor in the air at a specific temperature to the maximum
amount that the air could hold at that temperature, expressed as a
percentage.]

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8.

At 27 C, 500 cc of H2, measured under a pressure 400 torr, and 1000 cc

of N2, measured under a pressure of 600 mm Hg, are introduced into an
evacuated 2-L flask. Calculate the resulting pressure.

9.

Find the total pressure exerted by 2 g of ethane and 3 g of CO2 contained

in a 5-L vessel at 50 C.

10. (a) Find the weight of helium gas necessary to fill a balloon whose
capacity is 1,000,000 liters at 1 atm pressure and 25 C. (b) What will be
the lifting power of this balloon in grams per liter in the air described in
problem 7? (c) What will be its total lifting power in kilograms?
11. The time required for a given volume of N2 to diffuse through an orifice
is 35 sec. Calculate the molecular weight of a gas that requires 50 sec to
diffuse through the same orifice under identical conditions.
12. Compare the times of diffusion through a given orifice, and under the
same conditions of temperature and pressure, of the gases H2, NH3, and
CO2 relative to that of N2.
13. By means of a mercury vapor pump a vacuum of 107 mm Hg is obtained
within a certain apparatus. Calculate the number of molecules that still
remain in 1 cc of the apparatus at 27 C.
14. By use of the van der Waals equation, find the temperature at which 3
moles of SO2 will occupy a volume of 10 L at a pressure of 15 atm.
15. (a) Using the van der Waals equation, calculate the pressure developed by
100 g of CO2 contained in a volume of 5 L at 40 C. (b) Compare this
value with that calculated using the ideal gas law.
16. At 0 C and under a pressure of 100 atm the compressibility factor of O2
is 0.927. Calculate the weight of O2 necessary to fill a gas cylinder of
100-L capacity under the given conditions.
17. Using the Beattie-Bridgeman equation explicit in volume, calculate the
density in grams per cubic centimeter of N2 at 0 C and 100 atm pressure.
18. Utilizing the virial coefficients for N2 at various temperatures, determine
analytically the pressure at which the PV vs. P plot for the gas at 50 C
exhibits a minimum.

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19. Employing the Kamerlingh Onnes virial equation of state, find the
compressibility factors of CO at 50 C and pressures of (a) 10, (b) 100,
and (c) 1000 atm pressure.
20. The following data were taken in measuring the molecular weight of a
certain gas by the Regnault method for substances that are gases at room
temperature:
Wt. of evacuated bulb
= 42.5050 g
Wt. of bulb + gas
= 43.3412 g
Wt. of bulb + H2O
= 365.31 g
Temperature
= 25 C
Pressure (corrected)
= 745 torr
Find the molecular weight of the gas assuming it is ideal.
21. The elementary analysis of a compound yielded the following results:
C,
39.98%;
H,
6.72%;
O,
53.30%.
Further, the molecular weight of the compound was found by the Dumas
method to be 118.6 g/mol.
Find (a) the empirical formula, and (b) the molecular formula of the
compound.
22. A sample of vapor weighing 0.180 g occupies a volume of 53.1 cc at 27
C and 760 mm Hg pressure. The critical pressure of the vapor is 47.7
atm, while the critical temperature is 288.5 C. By use of the Berthelot
equation calculate the molecular weight of the vapor, and compare the
result with that calculated by the ideal gas law.
23. The densities of CH4, at 0 C were measured at several pressures with
the following results:
Pressure (atm)
Density (g/liter)
0.25
0.17893
0.50
0.35808
0.75
0.53745
1.00
0.71707
Find the exact molecular weight of CH4 from the Method of Limiting
Densities.
24. How much energy (heat at constant volume) will be required to raise the
temperature of 3 moles of helium from 0 C to 100 C?
25. Utilizing the data on the virial coefficients of carbon monoxide at
various temperatures, find the Boyle temperature of the gas.
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26. What is the total kinetic energy of translation in ergs of 2 moles of a

perfect gas at 27 C? In calories? In Joules?
27. Calculate the root-mean-square velocity, vrms, in centimeters per second
of N2 molecules at 27 C. Repeat the calculation at 127 C.
28. Calculate the root-mean-square, average, and most probable velocities in
centimeters per second of H2 molecules at 0 C.
29. The molecular diameter of CO is 3.19 x 108 cm. At 300 K and a
pressure of 100 mm Hg what will be (a) the number of molecules
colliding per cubic centimeter per second, (b) the number of bimolecular
collisions, and (c) the mean free path of the gas?
30. Repeat the calculations called for in problem 29 for the same
temperature but a pressure of 200 mm Hg. How pronounced is the effect
of pressure on the quantities sought?
31. Repeat the calculations called for in problem 29 for a pressure of 100 mm
Hg and a temperature of 600 K, How pronounced is the effect of
temperature on the quantities calculated?
32. (a) Calculate the van der Waals constants for C2H6, from the critical
temperature and pressure of the gas. (b) Using the constants thus
calculated find the pressure exerted by 10 g of C2H6 when contained in a
liter flask at 13 C.
33. The van der Waals constants for HCl are a = 3.67 atmliter2mole2, and
b = 40.8 ccmole1. Find the critical constants of this substance.
34. A modified form of the van der Waals equation (obtained by Berthelot) is

n 2
(V n ) = nRT
P +
2
TV

where all the terms have their usual significance, and and are
constants. Deduce the expressions for , , and R in terms of the critical
constants.
35. Calculate the critical density of methyl alcohol from the following data:
t C
P (atm)
dliq (g/cc)
dvap. (g/cc)
150
13.57
0.6495
0.01562
225
61.25
0.4675
0.1003
The critical temperature is 240.0 C.
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36. Compare the reduced pressures of N2 and NH3 when each exerts a
pressure of 100 atm.
37. Compare the reduced temperatures of ethylene and H2 at 27 C.
38. Set up the reduced equation of state for the modified van der Waals
equation given in problem 34.
39. The equation of state of a liquid gives the volume as a function of the
temperature and pressure: V = V(T,P).
Further, the thermal coefficient of expansion, , is defined as
1 V

V T P
while the compressibility coefficient, , is defined as
1 V

V P T
Assuming to be independent of temperature and to be independent of
pressure, deduce the expression for V as a function of T and P.
40. (a) For liquid benzene = 1.24 x 103 degree1 at 20 C and 1 atm
pressure. Utilizing the equation derived in problem 39 and assuming to
be independent of temperature, find the percentage change in volume of a
sample of benzene on being heated at 1 atm pressure from 20 to 50 C.
(b) What would be the percentage change in volume of an ideal gas
heated over the same temperature interval at constant pressure?
41. (a) For liquid benzene = 9.30 x 10-5 atm-1 at 20 C and 1 atm pressure.
Utilizing the equation derived in problem 39 and assuming to be
independent of pressure, find the percentage change in volume of a
sample of benzene on being compressed at constant temperature from a
pressure of 1 atm to a pressure of 11 atm. (b) What would be the
percentage change in volume of an ideal gas compressed over the same
pressure interval at constant temperature?
42. (a) Suppose that a sample of benzene, initially at 20C and 1 atm
pressure, is subjected to a pressure of 11 atm at 50C. Assuming and
to be constant, find the percentage change in volume of the benzene. (b)
What would be the percentage change in volume exhibited by an ideal gas
on being subjected to the same change in pressure and temperature?
43. The viscosity coefficient of gaseous Cl2 at 1 atm pressure and 20 C is
147.0 micropoises. Find the molecular diameter of the chlorine molecule.
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44. Consider two parallel layers of NH3 gas, one of large area and stationary,
and the other 10 cm2 in area and moving at a fixed distance of 1 x 106 cm
above the first. What force in dynes will be required to keep the upper
layer moving with a velocity of 5 cm per second when the pressure of the
gas is 10 mm Hg and the temperature is 300 K? The molecular diameter
of the NH3 molecule is 3.0 x 108 cm.
45. A gas whose viscosity is 200 micropoises flows through a capillary tube 2
mm in diameter and 2 meters long. If 5 liters of gas pass through the tube
every 10 seconds, what must be the pressure head under which the gas is
flowing?
46. The time of efflux of H2O through an Ostwald viscometer is 1.52 minutes.
For the same volume of an organic liquid of density 0.800 g /cc, the time
is 2.25 minutes. Find the viscosity of the liquid relative to that of water
and its absolute value in millipoises. The temperature is 20 C.
47. A steel ball of density 7.90 g/cc and 4 mm diameter requires 55 sec to fall
a distance of 1 m through a liquid of density 1.10 g/cc. Calculate the
viscosity of the liquid in poises.
48. A sphere of radius 5 x 102 cm and density of 1.10 g/cc falls at constant
velocity through a liquid of density 1.00 g/cc and viscosity of 1.00 poise.
What is the velocity of the falling sphere?
49. Suppose that all the conditions given in problem 48 are the same except
that the density of the sphere is 0.90 g/cc. What is the velocity of the
sphere in this case? Explain the significance of the result.
50. Using the data for the viscosity coefficients of C2H5OH as a function of
temperature, find for this substance the constants A and B in the equation
log = A/T + B.

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Gases Answers
[Problems adapted and edited from: Maron S.H. and Lando J.B. Fundamentals of
Physical Chemistry, Macmillan Publishing Co., NY, 1974, Ch. 1, pp. 57-60]

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.

200 C
5.21 liters
82.1 ccatmK1mol1
1.170 g/L
271.2 C
N2: 34.6 %; CO: 57.6 %; H2: 1.2 %; O2: 6.6 %
1.171 g/L
400 mm Hg
0.714 atm
(a) 164 kg; (b) 1.007 g/L; (c) 1,007 kg
57.15 g/mol
H2: 0.268; NH3: 0.780; CO2: 1.25
3.24 x 109 molecules
350 C
(a) 11.2 atm; (b) 11.7 atm
1.54 x 104 g
0.127 g/cc
116 atm
(a) 0.981; (b) 0.887; (c) 2.38
64.4 g/mol
(a) CH2O; (b) C4H8O4
78.9 g/mol; 83.5 g/mol
16.03 g/mol
894 cal
70 C
7.48 x 1010 ergs; 1788 cal
27 C: 5.17 x 104 cm/sec; 127 C: 5.97 x 104 cm/sec
1.84 x 105, 1.70 x 105, 1.50 x 105 cm/sec
(a) 2.23 x 1027; (b) 1.12 x l027; (c) 6.87 x 105 cm
(a) 8.92 x 1027; (b) 4.46 x l027; (c) 3.44 x 105 cm
(a) 7.87 x 1026; (b) 3.94 x l026; (c) 1.37 x 104 cm
(a) a = 5.43 atmliter2mole2, b = 0.0642 litermole-1; (b) 7.39 atm
Vc = 122.4 ccmole-1; Pc = 81.6 atm; tc = 51.4 C.
= Vc/3 = RTc/(8Pc) ; = 3Vc2 PcTc = (27/64)R2Tc3/Pc; R = 2.67
PcVc/Tc
0.274 g/cc

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36.
37.

Pr: N2 = 2.99, NH3 = 0.90

Tr: C2H4 = 1.06, H2 = 9.04

38.

Pr + 3 2

Tr Vr

39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.

nV = T P + constant
(a) 3.8 %; (b) 10.2 %
(a) 0.09 %; (b) 90.9 %
(a) 3.7 %; (b) 90.0 %
= 4.30 x 108 cm
= 1.44 micropoises; f = 72.0 dynes
5.09 x 105 dynes/cm2
1.19; 11.9 millipoises
32.6 poises
5.45 x 102 cm/sec
5.45 x 102 cm/sec
A = 720.0; B = 2.381

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(3Vr 1) = 8 Tr

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