Rare Gas Viscosities: A Learning Tool

• Arthur M. Halpern ^[1]
  1. [1] Indiana State University

     Indiana State University

     Township of Harrison, Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: Journal of chemical education, ISSN 0021-9584, Vol. 79, Nº 2, 2002, pág. 214
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • The viscosities, η, of the rare gases and SF6 are determined in a physical chemistry laboratory experiment using the evacuation method, which is based on Poiseuille's equation. Students become aware that η does not vary monotonically with row number (or atomic mass) and confirm this behavior on the basis of the kinetic theory expression for η. They find that the collision diameters of the gases, σ, which are obtained from η values, increase monotonically with molar mass, as expected. Students can show that values of σ obtained from gas viscosities agree reasonably well with ab initio calculations of atomic (molecular) diameters using Gaussian 98W.