In a gaseous system at equilibrium with its surroundings, as molecules of A(g) collide with molecules of B(g) without reacting, the total energy of the gaseious system
1. decreases
2. increases
3. remains the same
In the real world, energy will be lost to the surroundings and the energy of the system will decrease. In a theoretical world, we assume collisions with other molecules and the walls of the container are completely elastic (no loss of energy); therefore, the system's energy will ........
Stays the same
3. remains the same
In a gaseous system at equilibrium with its surroundings, the total energy of the system remains constant. This is because equilibrium implies that the forward and backward reactions are occurring at equal rates, which means that the system is in a balanced state. Although individual molecules may collide with each other, the total energy of the system as a whole does not change.
In a gaseous system at equilibrium with its surroundings, where molecules of A(g) collide with molecules of B(g) without reacting, the total energy of the gaseous system remains the same. This is because at equilibrium, there is no net change in the overall energy of the system.
To understand this concept, let's consider the different types of collisions that can occur between the molecules of A(g) and B(g) in this system:
1. Elastic Collisions: When molecules collide elastically, they bounce off each other without any loss of kinetic energy. The total kinetic energy in the system remains unchanged.
2. Inelastic Collisions: In inelastic collisions, there is a transfer of kinetic energy between the colliding molecules. However, since we are assuming that A(g) and B(g) do not react, there is no transfer of energy in this way.
3. No Reaction: Since the molecules of A(g) and B(g) are not reacting in this system, there is no change in the chemical potential energy of the system.
Overall, the energy change due to the individual collisions and no reaction leads to the total energy of the system remaining the same at equilibrium.