alleryStart learning →The average distance a gas molecule travels between collisions is called what?
AThe molar volume
BThe bond distance
CThe mean free path
DThe mean velocity
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. The mean free path
1. A gas molecule at room temperature runs into others billions of times a second.
2. Between two such collisions it covers a short straight run, and the average length of that run is the mean free path.
3. It is typically hundreds of times the diameter of the molecule itself.
4. This is why the smell of hot food takes a moment to cross a room even though molecules travel hundreds of metres per second.
_Source: OpenStax Chemistry (CC BY 4.0), Ch 9 "Gases", section 9.4 Effusion and Diffusion of Gases_
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