Question

A weather balloon has a volume of 52.5 liters at a temperature of 295 K. The balloon is released and rises to an altitude where the temperature is 252 K. How does the temperature change described affect the gas particle motion?

Answer 1

Gas particle motion will drop as the temperature reaches 252 K

Step-by-step explanation:

Initial temperature T1 = 295 K

Final temperature, T2 = 252 K

The kinetic energy of the gas particles is related to the temperature via the following equation:

`KE = (3)/(2) kT`

where k = Boltzmann constant

Based on the above equation we can write:

`(KE(1))/(KE(2)) = (T1)/(T2) = (295)/(252) = 1.17`

KE(1) = 1.17KE(2)

This implies that the kinetic energy is lower at T2 and therefore the gas particles will slow down as the balloon rises.