All of the following are postulates of the kinetic molecular theory of gases except
A. The gas molecules are in constant motion.
B. The gas molecules are in rapid motion.
C. The collisions between molecules are elastic.
D. At a constant temperature, each molecule has the same kinetic energy.
E. The volumes of the molecules are negligible compared with the volume of the containe
To determine which of the options is not a postulate of the kinetic molecular theory of gases, let's examine each option and the underlying principles of the theory.
A. The gas molecules are in constant motion.
This is one of the postulates of the kinetic molecular theory. According to this theory, gas molecules are in constant, random motion.
B. The gas molecules are in rapid motion.
This is another postulate of the kinetic molecular theory. The theory states that gas molecules are in rapid, chaotic motion.
C. The collisions between molecules are elastic.
This is also a postulate of the kinetic molecular theory. According to the theory, when gas molecules collide, they do so elastically, meaning that no kinetic energy is lost during the collision.
D. At a constant temperature, each molecule has the same kinetic energy.
This is the postulate that is not part of the kinetic molecular theory. According to the theory, at a given temperature, molecules of a gas have a range of kinetic energies.
E. The volumes of the molecules are negligible compared with the volume of the container.
This is another postulate of the kinetic molecular theory. The theory assumes that the volume occupied by the individual gas molecules is negligible compared to the total volume of the container they are in.
Therefore, the correct answer is D. At a constant temperature, each molecule has the same kinetic energy. To arrive at this answer, we need to understand the postulates of the kinetic molecular theory and compare each option to these postulates.
To identify the postulate of the kinetic molecular theory of gases that is not correct, let's examine each option:
A. The postulate that gas molecules are in constant motion is correct. Gas particles are in constant random motion.
B. The postulate that gas molecules are in rapid motion is also correct. Gas particles exhibit rapid motion due to their kinetic energy.
C. The postulate that collisions between gas molecules are elastic is correct. In the kinetic molecular theory, gas collisions are considered to be perfectly elastic, meaning there is no loss of kinetic energy during the collision.
D. The postulate that at a constant temperature, each gas molecule has the same kinetic energy is correct. According to the kinetic molecular theory, the average kinetic energy of gas particles is directly proportional to the temperature.
E. The postulate that the volumes of gas molecules are negligible compared with the volume of the container is also correct. In the kinetic molecular theory, gas particles are assumed to take up a negligible amount of space compared to the overall volume of the container they are in.
After examining each option, we can see that all of the given postulates are correct. Therefore, the correct answer is that there is no postulate in the kinetic molecular theory of gases that is not correct.