Are the effusion rates of carbon dioxide and propane the same?
1 Answer
Apr 20, 2017
They are close... not quite the same.
From the root-mean-square speeds, one could derive the rate of effusion.
#v_(RMS) = sqrt((3RT)/M)#
The rate of effusion
#bb(z_A/z_B) = sqrt((3RT)/M_A)/sqrt((3RT)/M_B)#
#= bb(sqrt(M_B/M_A))#
Hence, if we choose
#z_(CO_2)/z_(C_3H_8) = sqrt(M_(CO_2)/M_(C_3H_8))#
#= sqrt("44.01 g/mol"/"44.1 g/mol")#
#= 0.9979#
So they're almost the same, but propane effuses slightly faster.
#z_(CO_2) = 0.9979z_(C_3H_8)#