The average kinetic energy of a molecule of oxygen at 290 K is calculated using the equation 3kBT/2, giving a value of 6.00 × 10^-21 J per molecule.
The average kinetic energy of a molecule of oxygen at a temperature of 290 K can be found using the equation for the average kinetic energy of a molecule in an ideal monatomic gas, which is 3kBT/2, where KB is Boltzmann's constant and T is the temperature in Kelvin.
Although oxygen is a diatomic molecule, for the purposes of this question we will treat it similar to an ideal monatomic gas to calculate its average kinetic energy.
To calculate this, first convert Boltzmann's constant from eV/K to Joules per Kelvin, where 8.62 × 10^-5 eV/K is equivalent to 1.38 × 10^-23 J/K. Using the given temperature of 290 K:
average kinetic energy = (3/2) × KB × T
= (3/2) × (1.38 × 10^-23 J/K) × 290 K
= 6.00 × 10^-21 J
This is the average kinetic energy for a single molecule of oxygen at the given temperature.