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CG PET Equipartition — practice questions

Explore 2 free Equipartition questions in CG PET Physics. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

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Equipartition questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 1–2 of 2.

The **law of equipartition of energy** states that, at temperature $T$, each quadratic degree of freedom contributes:Read the answer and worked solution →The ratio of average KE of a monatomic gas to that of a rigid diatomic gas, at the **same T**, is:Read the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

The **law of equipartition of energy** states that, at temperature $T$, each quadratic degree of freedom contributes:

  1. $k_B T$
  2. $\frac{1}{2} k_B T$
  3. $\frac{3}{2} k_B T$
  4. $RT$
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Correct answer: B. $\frac{1}{2} k_B T$

Each independent quadratic term in the energy expression (translational, rotational, vibrational kinetic + potential) contributes $\frac{1}{2} k_B T$ to the average energy.

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The ratio of average KE of a monatomic gas to that of a rigid diatomic gas, at the **same T**, is:

  1. 3:5 (monatomic 3 DOF, diatomic 5 DOF, all × ½ k_BT)
  2. 1:1
  3. 5:3
  4. Cannot be determined
Show answer and solution

Correct answer: A. 3:5 (monatomic 3 DOF, diatomic 5 DOF, all × ½ k_BT)

Average energy per molecule = (DOF/2) k_B T. Monatomic: (3/2) k_B T. Diatomic rigid: (5/2) k_B T. Ratio = 3:5.

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