alleryStart learning →According to kinetic molecular theory, what causes the pressure a gas exerts on its container?
AAttractions between the gas molecules
BThe weight of the molecules inside
CCollisions of molecules with the walls
DRepulsion between molecules and walls
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. Collisions of molecules with the walls
1. Kinetic molecular theory pictures a gas as molecules in constant motion along straight lines.
2. Those molecules strike the container walls, and each strike delivers a small force.
3. The pressure is the total of those wall collisions spread over the wall area.
4. The theory also assumes the molecules exert no attractive or repulsive forces at all, so neither of those can produce the pressure.
_Source: OpenStax Chemistry (CC BY 4.0), Ch 9 "Gases", section 9.5 The Kinetic-Molecular Theory_
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