Question

A scientist has been working in a lab with several containers, each containing a different noble gas. He is worried that he may have mistakenly swapped the labels on two containers. One container is filled with non-toxic helium gas. The second container is filled with the toxic, highly carcinogenic noble gas, radon. The scientist knows the volume, temperature, and pressure of both of the gas containers. He also knows the mass of an empty container. He does not want to open the containers to figure out what the two gases are, for fear of releasing toxic radon into the lab. Which of the following would most likely help the scientist identify the gases? A. Re-measure the temperature of the containers. B. Measure the mass of the gases in each container. C. Measure the speed of the molecules in each container. D. Measure the charges of the electrons in each of the containers.A scientist has been working in a lab with several containers, each containing a different noble gas. He is worried that he may have mistakenly swapped the labels on two containers. One container is filled with non-toxic helium gas. The second container is filled with the toxic, highly carcinogenic noble gas, radon. The scientist knows the volume, temperature, and pressure of both of the gas containers. He also knows the mass of an empty container. He does not want to open the containers to figure out what the two gases are, for fear of releasing toxic radon into the lab. Which of the following would most likely help the scientist identify the gases? A. Re-measure the temperature of the containers. B. Measure the mass of the gases in each container. C. Measure the speed of the molecules in each container. D. Measure the charges of the electrons in each of the containers.

Answer 1

So,

The ideal gas law won't be of much use, as it treats all gases equally, regardless of identity.

Temperature is probably the best bet, as radon atoms will move slower than helium atoms. Whichever container has the faster atoms is the helium container, while the container with the slower atoms is the radon container. Therefore, the answer should be C.

Answer 2

B. Measure the mass of the gases in each container.

Step-by-step explanation:

Hello,

In this case, we take advantage of the ideal gas equation in terms of mass and atomic mass as shown below:

`PV=(m)/(M)RT`

Since the scientist does not know which gas is at each container, one strategy to find it out is by measuring the mass of the gases in each container and as the pressure, volume and temperature are known, one computes the molar mass to subsequently identify each gas based on its atomic mass, based on:

`M=(mRT)/(PV)`

Thus, once one computes the molar mass of each container, one identifies where is each gas, therefore, the answer is B. measure the mass of the gases in each container.

Best regards.