Two vessels A and B are of the same size and are at the same temperature. A contains of hydrogen and B contains of oxygen. and are the pressures of the gases in A and B respectively, then is:
- A
- B
- C
- D
Two vessels A and B are of the same size and are at the same temperature. A contains of hydrogen and B contains of oxygen. and are the pressures of the gases in A and B respectively, then is:
Correct answer:A
Standard Method
Given: Two vessels have the same volume and are at the same temperature. Vessel A contains of hydrogen and vessel B contains of oxygen.
Find: The ratio .
Using the ideal gas equation, for fixed volume and temperature, pressure is directly proportional to the number of moles.
So,
For hydrogen,
because the molar mass of hydrogen gas is .
For oxygen,
because the molar mass of oxygen gas is .
Therefore,
The ratio of their pressures is . Hence, the correct option is A.
Direct Proportionality Trick
Given: Equal volume and equal temperature for both gases.
Find: .
At the same temperature and volume, pressure depends only on moles. For equal mass samples, moles are inversely proportional to molar mass.
Now use molar masses:
So,
This works because both gases have the same mass, so the gas with smaller molar mass has more moles and therefore greater pressure. The correct option is A.
Using atomic masses and instead of molecular masses for and for is incorrect because the gases are diatomic. Always use molar mass of the gaseous molecule.
Assuming equal masses imply equal pressures is wrong because pressure at fixed temperature and volume depends on moles, not directly on mass. First convert mass into moles using .
Inverting the ratio and writing is incorrect. Hydrogen has more moles than oxygen for the same mass, so vessel A must have the higher pressure.
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