Question

At sufficiently high temperatures, the thermal speeds of gas molecules may be high enough that collisions may ionize a molecule (that is, remove an outer electron). An ionized gas in which each molecule has lost an electron is called a "plasma." Determine approximately the temperature at which air becomes a plasma.

Answer 1

minimum of 1.7 10⁵ K

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the temperature at which the air is changed to plasma we use the ratio of energy and absolute temperature

E = K T

Where K is the Bolztmann constant that is worth 1.38 10⁻²³ J /K and T the absolute temperature

The air is mainly composed of nitrogen and oxygen, the ionization energy of these elements are in the periodic table

Nitrogen E = 14.53 eV

Oxygen E = 13.62 eV

Let's reduce to SI units

E = 14.53 (1.6 10⁻¹⁹ J / 1eV) = 23.246 10⁻¹⁹J

E = 13.62 eV = 21.648 10-19 J

T = E / K

Nitrogen

T = 23,246 10⁻¹⁹ / 1.38 10⁻²³

T = 16.8 10⁴ K

Oxygen

T = 21.648 10⁻¹⁹ / 1.38 10⁻²³

T = 15.7 10⁴K

Therefore, to ionize all the atmospheric gas, we must reach a minimum of 1.7 10⁵ K