Derivation of the Kinetic Theory of Gases Equation (Cambridge (CIE) A Level Physics): Revision Note

Derivation of the kinetic theory of gases equation

• The equation for the kinetic theory of ideal gases contains the mean square speed of the particles:

• Where

  • = average speed of the gas particles

  • has the units m² s^-2

• Since particles travel in all directions in 3D space and velocity is a vector, some particles will have a negative direction and others a positive direction

• When there are a large number of particles, the total positive and negative velocity values will cancel out, giving a net zero value overall

• To calculate the average speed of the particles in a gas, take the square root of the mean square speed:

• c_r.m.s is known as the root-mean-square speed and still has the units of m s^-1

  • The mean square speed is not the same as the mean speed

Root-mean-square speed

• Molecular movement causes the pressure exerted by a gas

  • When molecules rebound from their container wall, the change in momentum gives rise to a force exerted by the particles on the wall

  • Many molecules moving in random motion exert forces on the walls, which creates an average overall pressure (since pressure is the force per unit area)

Derivation of the kinetic theory of gases equation

Consider the model of a gas molecule in a container

• Take a single molecule in a cube-shaped box with sides of equal length

• The molecule has mass and moves with speed parallel to one side of the box

• It collides at regular intervals with the sides of the box, exerting a force and contributing to the pressure of the gas

• By calculating the pressure this one molecule exerts on one end of the box, the total pressure produced by a total of  molecules can be deduced

Modelling a gas molecule in a container

A single molecule in a box collides with the walls and exerts a pressure

Derivation of the equation for the pressure exerted by a gas

     1. Find the change in momentum as a single molecule hits a wall perpendicularly

• One assumption of the kinetic theory is that molecules rebound elastically

  • This means there is no kinetic energy lost in the collision

• If a particle rebounds in the opposite direction to its initial velocity , its final velocity will be

• The change in momentum is therefore:

     2. Calculate the number of collisions per second by the molecule on a wall

• The time between collisions of the molecule travelling to one wall and back is calculated by travelling a distance of  with speed :

Time between collisions = 

• Note:  is not taken as the speed of light in this scenario

     3. Find the change in momentum per second

• The average force the molecule exerts on one wall is found using Newton’s second law of motion:

• The change in momentum is since the force on the molecule from the wall is in the opposite direction to its change in momentum

     4. Calculate the total pressure from N molecules

• The area of one wall is 

• The pressure  is defined as the force per unit area:

• This is the pressure exerted on the container wall by one molecule

• To account for the large number of N molecules, the pressure can now be written as:

• Each molecule has a different velocity and they all contribute to the pressure

• The mean square speed  is written with left and right-angled brackets

• The pressure is now defined as:

     5. Consider the effect of the molecule moving in 3D space

• The pressure equation still assumes all the molecules are travelling in the same direction and colliding with the same pair of opposite faces of the cube

• In reality, all molecules will be moving in three dimensions equally and randomly, with average velocity :

• Where , , and are the components of the average velocity - this equation is a result of Pythagoras' theorem in 3D

• Since pressure is due to the force exerted on one face of the cube, only the component of velocity perpendicular to that face (e.g. the -direction) matters

• For a gas with molecules moving randomly in all directions, the mean square speed is evenly distributed among all three directions:

• Therefore, each squared -component of velocity accounts for a third of the average velocity squared

• This is why only one-third of the total mean square speed contributes to the pressure on one wall

     6. Re-write the pressure equation

• The box is a cube, and all the sides are of length 

  • This means the volume of the cube is equal to 

• Substituting the new values for and  back into the pressure equation obtains the final equation:

• Where:

  •  = pressure (Pa)

  •  = volume (m³)

  •  = number of molecules 

  •  = mass of one molecule (kg)

  • = mean square speed of the molecules (m s^–1)

• This can also be written using the density ρ of the gas:

• Rearranging the pressure equation for and substituting the density :