Final answer:
In a mixture of CO₂ and CO gases at the same temperature, the ratio of the average kinetic energy of a CO₂ molecule to that of a CO molecule is 1:1, because the average kinetic energy is dependent only on temperature and not molecular mass.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question is about the average kinetic energy of molecules in a gas mixture, which is a concept from Physics, specifically in the area of thermodynamics and gas laws. According to the kinetic theory of gases, the average kinetic energy of any gas molecule is given by the equation K = (3/2)kT, where k is the Boltzmann constant and T is the absolute temperature of the gas. This equation tells us that the average kinetic energy for any ideal gas is directly proportional to its absolute temperature and does not depend on the molecular mass of the gas. Therefore, if carbon dioxide (CO₂) and carbon monoxide (CO) molecules are in a mixture at the same temperature, they would have the same average kinetic energy. The ratio of their average kinetic energies would be 1:1, or simply 1.