Question

Three grams of gas are placed in a sealed 10 L flask maintained at 0°C. The molecule's weight of the gas is 20 amu. Which of the following would most likely occur if the valve to the flask is opened?

a. The gas will escape into the air without reacting.
b. The gas and oxygen in the air will mix and react.
c. The gas will freeze due to the low temperature.
d. The gas will condense into a liquid.

Answer 1

When the valve of the flask containing the gas is opened, the gas is most likely to escape into the air without reacting due to its light molecular weight.

Step-by-step explanation:

If three grams of gas are placed in a sealed 10 L flask maintained at 0°C, and the flask's valve is then opened, the most likely outcome is that the gas will escape into the air without reacting. The molecular weight of the gas given is 20 amu, which suggests that it is a light gas and would therefore tend to diffuse into the atmosphere rather than react or condense. The low temperature of 0°C is not low enough to freeze most gases with a molecular weight of 20 amu, and at standard atmospheric pressure, the gas is more likely to remain in a gaseous state than to liquefy.