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7: Kinetic-Molecular Theory and States of Matter

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    389596
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    • 7.1: The Kinetic-Molecular Theory
      The kinetic molecular theory is a simple but very effective model that effectively explains ideal gas behavior. The theory assumes that gases consist of widely separated molecules of negligible volume that are in constant motion, colliding elastically with one another and the walls of their container with average velocities determined by their absolute temperatures. The individual molecules of a gas exhibit a range of velocities.
    • 7.2: Gas Pressure
      Gases exert pressure, which is force per unit area. The pressure of a gas may be expressed in the SI unit of pascal or kilopascal, as well as in many other units including torr, atmosphere, and bar. Atmospheric pressure is measured using a barometer; other gas pressures can be measured using one of several types of manometers.
    • 7.3: Relating Pressure, Volume, Amount, and Temperature - The Ideal Gas Law
      The behavior of gases can be described by several laws based on experimental observations of their properties. including Amontons’s law, Charles’s law, Boyle’s lawand Avogadro’s law. These laws can be extracted directly from the ideal gas law.
    • 7.4: Stoichiometry of Gaseous Substances, Mixtures, and Reactions
      The ideal gas law can be used to derive a number of convenient equations relating directly measured quantities to properties of interest for gaseous substances and mixtures. Appropriate rearrangement of the ideal gas equation may be made to permit the calculation of gas densities and molar masses. Dalton’s law of partial pressures may be used to relate measured gas pressures for gaseous mixtures to their compositions.
    • 7.5: Effusion and Diffusion of Gases
      Gaseous atoms and molecules move freely and randomly through space. Diffusion is the process whereby gaseous atoms and molecules are transferred from regions of relatively high concentration to regions of relatively low concentration. Effusion is a similar process with gaseous species passing from a container to vacuum through a small orifices. The rates of effusion of gases are inversely proportional to the square roots of their densities or to the square roots of their atoms/molecules’ masses.
    • 7.6: Non-Ideal Gas Behavior
      Gas molecules possess a finite volume and experience forces of attraction for one another. Consequently, gas behavior is not necessarily described well by the ideal gas law. Under conditions of low pressure and high temperature, these factors are negligible, the ideal gas equation is an accurate description of gas behavior, and the gas is said to exhibit ideal behavior. The van der Waals equation is a modified version of the ideal gas law that can be used to account for the non-ideal behavior.
    • 7.7: Intermolecular Forces
      The physical properties of condensed matter (liquids and solids) can be explained in terms of the kinetic molecular theory. In a liquid, intermolecular attractive forces hold the molecules in contact, although they still have sufficient kinetic energy to move past each other. Intermolecular attractive forces, collectively referred to as van der Waals forces, are responsible for the behavior of liquids and solids and are electrostatic in nature.
    • 7.8: Properties of Liquids
      The intermolecular forces between molecules in the liquid state vary depending upon their chemical identities and result in corresponding variations in various physical properties. Cohesive forces between like molecules are responsible for a liquid’s viscosity (resistance to flow) and surface tension. Adhesive forces between the molecules of a liquid and different molecules composing a surface in contact with the liquid are responsible for surface wetting and capillary rise.
    • 7.9: The Solid State of Matter
      Some substances form crystalline solids consisting of particles in a very organized structure; others form amorphous (noncrystalline) solids with an internal structure that is not ordered. The main types of crystalline solids are ionic solids, metallic solids, covalent network solids, and molecular solids. The properties of the different kinds of crystalline solids are due to the types of particles of which they consist, the arrangements of the particles, and the strengths of the attractions bet


    7: Kinetic-Molecular Theory and States of Matter is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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